Buffy Summers: Code Name Slayer - Part 4 - Iron Man 3
by Kitkat5979
Summary: After losing another person she loves Buffy begins accepting her duties at Stark Industries while going after criminals at night to try and distract herself from the pain, but will those distractions be her undoing? Despite it all, two new enemies rise, hoping to take down the Starks, however, surprises are always around the corner for Buffy, surprises that may be the death of her.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of its characters. I do not own Marel or Iron Man.  
_ _A/N: Welcome Back, here we go for another adventure with Buffy._

 _ **Check out - Kit Summers - Code Name Slayer - Iron Man 3 Trailer**_

* * *

 _A famous man once said we create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn't matter. I said it because he said it. So, now, he was famous and it's basically getting said by two well-known guys. I don't, uh...I'm going to start again. Let's track this from the beginning..._

14 Years Ago – Bern Switzerland – New Years Eve

"Pretty pretty please, daddy?" The nine-year-old blonde girl with pigtails begs as her father carries her into the hotel room and leads her straight to the spare room.  
"Sorry Buff." The young Tony Stark says as he places his adorable daughter in her room. When she pouted he sighed heavily, he hated disappointing her, this was the first time Joy had ever let him have her on New Years and he had to work.

Tony crouches down in front of his daughter and tugs on her pigtails as she clutches onto the piggy she had dubbed Mr Gordo that he had given her for Christmas.  
"But you promised." The blonde moans as she looks up at him with big doe eyes.  
Tony sighs and kisses the top of her head "I know I did. And I promise I will spend all day tomorrow with you. But it's late and you need to go to bed."

Little Buffy stamps her feet on the ground and crosses her arms before glaring up at him, looking dangerously like her mother as she does.  
Tony flinches at the look on her face before lifting her off the ground and into his arms "Look you are my best girl but I got to do this monkey. I promise tomorrow it will be all about Buffy..."  
"Why can't I come with you to the party?" She moans before burying her head in the crook of his neck.

Tony chuckles slightly and strokes her hair "Because I promised your mommy, I wouldn't let the press see you. She wants you to be a normal little kid. No matter how overrated that is. You're a Stark. Totally un-normal if you ask me."  
Buffy giggles slightly "Daddy you talk funny."  
"I know kid. Don't worry you'll thank me for that one day."

He smiles before placing her back down on the ground and taking her hand he leads her over to the living room area where Happy Hogan and James Rhodes were sat waiting.  
Tony crouches down in front of his daughter once more before tapping her nose "You're gonna stay here with Uncle Rhodey, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

Buffy sighs before nodding, she hugs her father once more before walking over to Rhodey who sweeps her up in a big bear hug "Uncle Rhodey, that tickles!" The little girl exclaims as Rhodey tickles under her arms.

Rhodey chuckles before throwing the girl over his shoulders and turning to Tony "You're lucky she's smarter than you otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to babysit."  
Buffy wiggled in his arms before climbing down and walking over to Happy, tugging on his sleeve she waits for him to lean down before whispering "Make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble." She says gesturing to her father.

Happy chuckles in amusement before tapping the girl on the head while Tony merely glares at her "I don't need a babysitter."  
"That's debatable." The blonde says before turning to Happy again "And make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"You're the kid here!" Tony exclaims only for all three of them to stare at him, clearly, they were on Buffy's side.  
Tony groans "My own kid is gonna put me in a home."  
Buffy giggles before yawning slightly, she rubs her eyes before looking at her dad "I'm nine...and a Stark. Plus you're the one who always says I'm my father's daughter."

Tony laughs in amusement before kissing her head once more just as him and Happy prepare to head down to the party  
"Night Daddy." Buffy calls as Rhodey lifts her up prepared to put the sleepy girl to bed.  
"Night Buffster." He says with a wave before closing the door.

Tony leans against the door with a heavy sigh, that little ball of sunshine was a little firecracker sometimes. He smiles fondly before frowning, he wished things could be different, he had tried to convince Joyce to chance her mind but she was adamant that Buffy was not to be exposed to this lifestyle until she was 18. Then it would be her choice.

With a final sigh, he turns to Happy, "Time for the mask, Sir."  
Tony nods before taking the flask from Happy and forcing a smile on his face.

* * *

At the part, Tony continues to play the part of the bachelor as he flirts with the beautiful brunette in front of him.  
As she giggles Happy turns to him "Half hour till the ball drops."

Tony grins, it wouldn't be long till he could get out of here and see his daughter. But he was still a single man so he might as well enjoy his time. Bending down towards the brunette he smirks "Hey, do you wanna..."  
Tony is cut off as a drunk idiot approaches screaming in his ear "Tony Stark! Great speech, man!"  
As Happy attempts to pull the man away Tony frowns, he had maybe had a few too many to drink "I gave a speech? How was it?"  
"Edifying." Happy says before hauling the drunk away.  
The brunette woman, on the other hand, smirks "Unintelligible."  
"Really?" He teases "It's my favourite kind. A winning combo."

As he begins to lead her to the exit she pauses "Where are we going?"  
"Uh, to town on each other, preferably back in your room." He says wincing at even the idea of traumatising his daughter with that idea, he would likely traumatise and humiliate and embarrass her very much in the future, especially once she was old enough to date. Tony shivered at that very thoughts, it was a terrifying thought.  
"And so I can see your research." He finishes trying to focus on the woman in front of him.  
She grins not noticing his lack of interest in her "Okay, you can see my research, but that's...I'm not gonna show you my town."

As they attempt to get through the crowd someone else attempts to grab his attention "Mr Stark." He addresses as he approaches Tony "Ho Yinsen"  
Tony chuckles "Ah, I finally met a man called Ho."

"I would like to introduce you to our guest, Dr Wu." As Yinsen leads him across the room he pauses in front of an older Asian man in a suit "Oh, this guy. Hey." Tony says uninterested as the booze really started to cloud his brain. Joy was going to kill him.

Tony frowns when the man speaks in mandarin so merely shrugs "You're a heart doctor. She's going to need a cardiologist after I..." Tony reaches for the plastic horn in his hand making a honking noise as he blows into it before dragging his date away.

 _Started in Bern, Switzerland. 1999. The old days. Old days as in a secret nine-year-old blonde daughter who was asleep in the hotel room and who was later forbidden from ever spending any time abroad with me again by her mother days. Sorry...I got off topic. Anyway the old days...well let's just say I never thought they would come back to bite me. Especially not by coming after my kid. Why would they?But then again I never though my daughter's past would team up with my own? I mean like come on. How the hell was I supposed to know?_

"Mr Stark!" A man who was the personification of nerd says as he approaches Tony, Happy and the brunette woman by the elevator.  
"Oh, wow! Hey, Tony!" The man stutters as he adjusts the giant framed glasses that filled half of his face "Aldrich Killian. I'm a big fan of your work."  
The brunette chuckles "My work?" She asks drunkenly.  
"Who isn't." Tony says with a shrug "He means me." He informs the blonde.  
Killian chuckles nervously "Well, of course, but, Ms Hansen, my organisation's been tracking your research since year two of MIT."

As they get into the elevator Killian manages to sneak his way in, as Happy attempts to move him Killian focuses on Tony and Hansen "It's a privately funded think tank called Advanced Idea Mechanics."  
Tony groans in annoyance and the minute the doors of the elevator open he lets all the women pass before blocking Killian "I'm titillated by the idea of working with you."  
"Yeah?" Killian asks excitedly, looking much like a child on Christmas morning.  
"I'll ditch these clowns. I'll see you on the roof in 10 minutes."

* * *

After looking at Hansen's incredible research regarding cellular regeneration and access to the brain both him and the doctor move towards her room to _'further discuss the subject'._  
As he passes Happy who was purposely moving the planet that Hansen had told him not to touch due to her experiments on it Tony taps his shoulder "Feel free to head back up."

"She's fine. Rhodey's with her." Happy says making Tony roll his eyes, his worry for his daughter, not the least bit smaller. As much as he trusted Rhodey this was Buffy. He was always cautious when it came to her.

Tony makes his way into her bedroom and as he sits opposite her, listening to her incredible theory and research into the brain he can't help but be impressed. "You're the most gifted woman I've ever met."  
Hansen looks up at his unamused "Wow."  
Tony looks down and shakes his head "In Switzerland."  
The brunette grins "Hmm. That's better. Aww, you're seeing things."  
"Ahm this week." He says before laughing "You almost bought it didn't you?"

Just as he moves in to kiss her a loud explosion goes off from the other room "It's a Glitch." She says before glaring at the now burning plant.

* * *

Up on the roof, Aldrich Killian stood waiting and waiting for Tony Stark. He waited hours ignoring the sounds of the fireworks as he desperately waited for Tony to appear. However, he never did.

Although unaware at the time he would soon discover the across the street stood two men in suits watching him intently "And the research?" The taller one asks.  
The shorter one smiles "Trust me, Marcus. From what the senior partners have told me great things will come. And now is our time. We can scoop him up. The Senior Partners say his research will be a great hand taking down a future enemy."  
"I don't know Holland." Marcus says as he crosses his arms and stares at the other man completely unimpressed "Seems like nothing but a worm we could crush."  
"Exactly." Holland Manners says with a grin "And no worm works better than when it's under the threat of being crushed."

 _So why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons...no not literally but I had just left the door open for the literally kind. And I didn't know it. Yeah, those were good times, but I moved on._

 _After a pretty awesome day with Buff, Joy took her home, but not before yelling at me for an hour. After Joy died, my daughter was given superpowers, died, dated a creep and I paid a lovely visit to a sweet Afgan cave I said goodbye to the party scene. I forgot that night in Switzerland. These day's I'm a changed man._

 _(Buffy) Debatable!_

 _Buffy! My time for story time. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, changed man...I swear to god Buffy stop laughing it's true. Ignore her. I'm a different man. I'm well...you know who I am._


	2. Chapter 2

FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO – SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM

"Willow Danielle Rosenberg. Born to Shelia and Ira Rosenberg who sadly could not be with us today. She was raised in Sunnydale, California. She was a bright young mind, top of her class graduated Valedictorian and was at the top of her class when she graduated from UCLA Sunnydale. More than a bright mind, she was a kind soul, one who put others before herself. She was a friend, a daughter and a true loss to this world."

As the Paster speaks Buffy blinks back tears, trying to keep from shaking as she stared at the photo of her best friend. Willow had been her first real friend in Sunnydale, honestly the more she thought about it, her first best friend. She had had friends in L.A but she had lost contact with them and never had the interest to try and get back in touch.

With Willow it had been different, she had been her sister, the person she told everything to. Willow was the person she discussed her relationships with, the person she cried too, laughed with, danced with. She was family. And now she was gone. She was gone and it still didn't feel real.  
She had been sucked up in a portal, with no oxygen, the explosion and lack of oxygen would have killed her but Buffy just couldn't find closure.

She glances over at her father who was staring at the coffin with such a young woman in it. She sighs she knew he felt guilty, he thought that it should have been him.  
Buffy blinks back tears and she takes her father's hand and squeezes it, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't Willow, Willow may have thought that because she had let Amy go that she needed to be the one to stop the missile but in truth, Buffy blamed herself more than anyone.

She had been the one to call Willow in the first place. Despite what Xander said that if she hadn't called Willow then the entire City of Manhattan would be gone she still couldn't shake that guilt and that need for revenge against Loki for starting this in the first place.

"Miss Stark-Summers, I believe you wanted to say something."

Buffy looks up at the Pastor as she hears her named mentioned. She freezes her body going rigid for a second before she stands on shaky legs. Her father squeezes her hand supportively before letting her move towards the stage.  
Buffy blinks softly as she looks at the women surrounding her as well as Witch friends of Willows plus Xander, Andrew and a few others who she didn't recognise.

Taking a deep breath she looks at the photo of Willow.

"Willow...Will...she was my best friend. She and Xander took me in as their own accepted me as part of their little family. Willow was good, and kind and one of the best people I have ever met. She was unique in ever way and gifted in every way from school to her ability to make the world's most miserable person smile, to her ability to use magic, to her ability to love and forgive." Buffy takes a shaky pause before clasping her hands together she tries to summon her courage "She is the greatest person I have ever known, someone who could make any situation lighter no matter the loss. She was there for me when I lost my mom. She's the one who gave me another chance at life, the one who convinced me that it was worth living when I didn't want to. She saved my life, she saved my father's life and the lives of everyone in Manhattan. Willow Rosenberg is a hero, she sacrificed her life to save all of us. I only hope that she got the peace with the woman she loved because more than anything Willow deserves to be happy...and get everything she wanted in life."

At that point Buffy can't hold it in any longer she lets the tears fall down her cheeks, a hand lands on her shoulder and Buffy turns burying herself in Xander's embrace at her wraps his arms around her as they grieve for their friend, their sister, together.  
Xander turns to the group as he keeps a hold of Buffy "She was our Brave Little Toaster, our yellow crayon loving Will. We will never let her go."

Xander takes Buffy hand as she tries to compose herself and leads her over to the coffin, taking out two yellow crayons from his pocket he passes one to Buffy.  
She takes it with a shaky hand and slowly the two of them place the crayons on Willow's grave.  
Buffy backs away from the coffin and goes over to her father allowing him to hug her tightly as she cries.  
She glances up from his shoulder to watch as her empty coffin is lowered into the ground. It was final. She was gone.

* * *

"Buffy?" Tony asks as he approaches his daughter hesitantly at the wake, she hadn't spoken much since they had left New York after the Battle.  
Watching her best friend sacrifice herself had almost killed her, after everything Buffy just said that it wasn't right. Willow and the Xander were the ones who were supposed to get long lives. To have kids, grown old and all the apple pie stuff.  
Buffy takes a deep breath before turning to her father "I'm fine." She assures him "It's just...it's been a rough day."  
"I know." He says sadly before kissing the top of her head, however before he could say anything else Xander appears with a worried look on his face.

"Buffy, I hate to do this now, but we have a problem." Buffy frowns at his words and turns to him straightening her dress she looks at him seriously "What's going on?"  
Tony sighs "I'll give you a minute." He says before moving away and making his way towards the bar.

As her father walks off Buffy sighs before turning back to Xander "What is it?"  
"I didn't want to tell you last week, just because we weren't sure but one of our witches just confirmed it."  
Buffy frowns she was even more confused than before, the look on Xander's face was making her worry, she folds her arms and looks at him seriously "Xander what is it?"  
"The witches said that...the Slayers...the ones Willow called...their powers were tied to her magic, her spell...with her gone so is that magic."

Buffy's eyes widen as she finally understands the importance of what he was telling her, spells were tied to the witch that cast them, with Willow gone and her magic gone that spell that arose all those Slayers...  
"They've already started losing their strength." Xander tells her cutting off her train of thought.  
Buffy freezes, this was the worst time for this to be happening, they couldn't go back to it just being her and Faith again.  
"We'll figure something out Buffy." Xander says as he places a reassuring hand on her shoulder "We have to."

* * *

PRESENT DAY – LOS ANGELOUS, CALIFORNIA

 _"_ _Sir."_ Jarvis' voice says in his ear causing Tony to stir from his sleep, he groans in annoyance and throws a pillow over his head "I swear to god if you bring up that security briefing again I already promise you I would ignore it. Now go annoy dummy."  
Tony throws a pillow over his head only for again Jarvis's voice to cut through the dead quiet of the room.

Tony exhales as he realises that Jarvis wasn't going to quit, groaning he pulls himself out of bed and grabs the shirt off the nightstand "What is it Jar? I was having a very lovely dream...loads of bikini-clad women..."  
 _"_ _I'm sure it was remarkable, Sir."_ Jarvis says clearly annoyed, despite being nothing more than computer programming the boy did have some sass to him _"I'm waking you, sir, as you asked me to keep an eye on the young Stark. However, I am unable to do that when she is not in the house."_

As the words fill the room Tony freezes, this was the third night in a role where she had disappeared.  
"Her tracker?" Tony asks as he moves out of the bedroom and down to the garage.  
 _"_ _Her motorcycle tracker points to somewhere is East L.A."  
_

Tony groans in annoyance before running his hands through his hair, pulling at the ends in frustration "How long?"  
 _"_ _According to my calculations, Ms Stark has been awake for nearly 72 hours."_

* * *

As the guy approaches her Buffy grabs his wrist and jabs him in the face before twisting to kick the other man approaching her sending him flying. She steps around the man she was still holding onto and twists his wrist violently making him flip through the air.

As a third man approaches her she ducks under his arm and hits him hard in the gut before standing straight and sucker punching him in the face, as he sprawls to the floor another one of the muggers attempts to grab Buffy but she grabs his wrists and twists it behind his back before forcing his arm into an awkward angle, she kicks his knee down before pressing her foot onto the other one using the momentum to lift herself up and wrap a leg around him before flipping through the air sending him crashing to the ground. As he lays flat on the ground she kicks him in the stomach making him fly across the alleyway.

Suddenly one of the other men wraps an arm around her back, Buffy growls before headbutting him she then lifts her legs up and forces her feet into the man in front of her knocking him down before grabbing the wrist of the man currently holding her and howling him off the ground and down the street.

Buffy looks down at the six men, the muggers, the murderers who had been threatening this poor young girl.  
Buffy adjusts her glasses before turning to face the young woman who was looking up at her with wide eyes.

The woman looks up at the raven-haired warrior in front of her, she wore black leather trousers, a tight corset like a vest that seemed to be made of some strong material and a short crop black leather jacket as well as steel toe platform boots.  
"You're her." The girl gasps out recognising the woman from the Battle of New York.

Buffy sighs before helping the girl up "Go home. Now" Buffy hisses not leaving any room for argument.  
The girl frowns but thanks her once more before running towards the town centre.

"Impressive." A voice says from behind her. Buffy groans in annoyance as she turns to see Tony standing there in one of his Iron Man suits, she didn't even need the mask to be raised to be able to tell that he was probably glaring at her.  
Buffy rolls her eyes "Ironman." She says with a little nod before moving towards the fire escape.

As she leaps up ignoring the looks he was probably throwing her way she pulls herself onto the balcony before ripping off her glasses "What are you doing here?" She asks as Tony lands in front of her lowering his mask.  
"Out for a stroll figured I'd get a beer while I search for my missing daughter!"  
"I'm almost 24 years old. I'm not a little girl never have been."  
Tony sighs "Buffy come on, you haven't slept in 72 hours. Please just come home."

Buffy sighs before adjusting the holding on her back where she was currently keeping the scythe, she closes her eyes for a second before nodding "Sorry." She said, knowing her was just worried and trying to help. She runs a hand through her hair before making her way to the exit "I'll see you at home."

* * *

A/n: Buffy's Temporary Suit (It will change) - /images/ng4V1d


	3. Chapter 3

"You missy, are so grounded." Tony says, now back in normal clothes as he leads Buffy into the garage, Buffy sighs before chuckling in amusement as she pulls off her wig "I'm not a kid dad."  
"You live in my house still, ergo, kid." He says before making his way into the middle of the room tapping Dummy as he passes the robot hand.  
Buffy rolls her eyes before sitting down on one of the desks and watching her dad carefully "Hey in my defence I bought an apartment and you bought the building so you could keep an eye on me. Figured I'd save us both the cash."  
Tony moves to argue however he couldn't find an excuse for that one, she was completely right.

 _"Ms Stark, according to my results you haven't slept in 72 hours perhaps..."_  
As Jarvis continues Buffy sighs "I'm good. No time to sleep." Buffy turns to her father next who was currently tapping his arm violently "What's he doing?"  
 _"Before I informed your father of your absence he had been working on the new Mark 42. I believe he is trying to activate the autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Which I still suggest we leave for another 48 hours of testing."_

Buffy sits there dumbfounded for a second while Tony merely shrugs "Nah. This is gonna be awesome. Buffy look!" Tony pauses and raises his arms "Jarvis drop my needle."  
Buffy frowning before groaning as Christmas songs begin playing on the record player "Seriously where's the AC/DC?" She asks with a tilt of her head only to freeze as she watches the hands on the table fly towards Tony.  
Her eyes widen as different aspects of the suit fly towards Tony and begin forming around him "I'll admit this is awesome."  
"Proof she is my child!" Tony exclaims "Knew I didn't need that DNA test."

When Buffy looks at him unamused Tony shrugs only to frown as Jarvis pipes into the conversation, burning both of them simultaneously " _I believe that the proof was in how reckless and irresponsible you both act in each others company."  
_ Buffy snorts in amusement before watching as the legs fly towards Tony.  
However when the other leg flies towards him Tony has to duck because it moved too fast, causing it to go crashing into one of the suits behind him.  
"Probably slow it down a little." Tony requests as he watches the glass shatter to the ground behind him.

Buffy winces as she watches more parts of the suit fly around the room before crashing onto Tony painfully, at one point he almost falls down the staircase into the lower ground floor but luckily the repulsors were already on the suit.

Once the suit was finally on Tony turns to Buffy hoping for her to be impressed however she frowns at the suit.  
Grabbing one of the small pieces of metal next to her she tosses it at him causing him to drop as the suit shatters back into pieces.  
As he falls to the ground she chuckles "Well, I was impressed."  
 _"As always sir, a great pleasure watching you work."_ Jarvis says with sass making Buffy chuckle.

Tony glares at his daughter "Glad I could amuse you, Buffy. Here as a favour to me why don't you catch some sleep? 72 hours bit long in between siestas if you ask me."  
Buffy is about to argue however her phone goes off "Can't." She says as she leaps off the table and heads to the staircase.  
Tony frowns "Where are you going?"  
"Stark Industries." Buffy says shockingly "I promised Pepper I would at least learn a couple things." She gives her dad a wave before heading upstairs to shower.

As she heads upstairs Tony sighs, he was worried about her, he knew why she was avoiding sleep but it wasn't good for her.

* * *

 _(Tony) And I guess 72 hours is a long time between siestas. Even for Buffy.  
Didn't think it would get any worse from my daughter going out and beating on muggers to not sleeping, not it just's couldn't.  
But was I _wrong. _  
That's when he happened._

* * *

"Yeah no." Buffy says as Pepper leads her around Stark Industries.

Pepper sighs and glances back at the young blonde woman "Buffy the minute you turned 21 you became one of the majority shareholders in this company, but then you went off the grid. You can't avoid the board for that long."

Buffy groans before adjusting her jacket, Pepper had been very clear that she was to dress sensible but also show that she wasn't the same teenaged girl that walked in through those doors over five years ago.  
Pepper who looked stunning in her white pantsuit turns to Buffy as she leads the young woman into her office.  
"Can't I just beat up Happy for a couple hours?" Buffy asks pouting at the older woman

"No!" A voice exclaims from behind, both women frown and turn to see Happy staring at Buffy with a hint of fear. When he notices them both watching him he clears his throat "I mean, I don't think that would be very professional."  
Buffy chuckles in amusement "Oh, I'm sure that's the reason, Morgan Grimes."

As Happy mumbles under his breath Pepper sighs before handing Buffy a large file "I know you didn't want this but with you doing your...night work all the time you need a cover and unfortunately as you are in the public eye this is as good as it's going to get."  
Pepper sighs and places a supporting hand on the girl's shoulder, she thought of Buffy as her own daughter sometimes, and she really wanted to do everything she could to help her in this difficult time "Maybe the sections on uses of Stark technology for home security might be more your speed than the budgets."  
Buffy smiles sweetly at the older woman who she had grown quite close to over the years "Your office is over there." She says gesturing to the small office opposite her own.

Buffy moves out of the office before smirking at Happy who glares at her, the blonde chuckles in amusement, however as she enters her office she freezes as she spots the mini fridge and platform TV "Nice!" She exclaims as she crosses the room stepping behind the glass desk she grazes a hand over the lovely leather chair "Ah maybe there are benefits to being the boss." Buffy pauses "Well partial in training boss."

However, her smile is quickly dropped as she pulls back the curtains only to find the press in the building opposite heads out the window yelling at her as they attempt to get a photo.  
"I need a drink." Buffy moves out of her office quickly trying to get away from the flashing lights. She climbs down the stairs quickly hoping to get to the cafe however what she didn't expect was the press trying to get into the building.

"Buffy." Happy says as he runs after her "We need to get you back upstairs."  
Buffy frowns, the press had never taken that much interest in her why now "Why didn't you tell me?" She asks as she turns back to Happy.  
"I didn't know. Look the press are just going crazy cause no one has had a shot of you since you were in New York those few weeks after you were brought back."

"Ms Stark!" "Ms Stark!" "Ms Stark!" "Where have you been for the last three years?" "Will Stark Industries go back to being run by a Stark?" "Is it true your dating Liam Hemsworth?"

As members of the press scream Happy attempts to get her back to the elevator, however, one question makes Buffy pause "Where were you during the battle of New York?" The reporter yells out desperately trying to get a shot of the blonde who had becoming a stunning young woman.

"Did you see your father head towards the wormhole before a mystery woman went inside? Do you know who the woman is?"

As she listens to the questions she lets Happy guide her into the elevator, as the doors close her breathing begins picking up becoming shallow, her chest felt as though it was tightening threatening to combust. Everything hurt it felt like she was dying she couldn't breathe.  
"Buffy!" Happy exclaims as he notices Buffy go pale and begin struggling to breathe.

* * *

 _"Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. America. Ready for another lesson?"_

 _"You know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll never see me coming."_

 _"All attempts to find The Mandarin have so far proved unsuccessful."_

 _"I know him as Colonel James Rhodes. The American people will soon know him as The Iron Patriot."_

Tony groans at the sight on the TV, one of his babies, one of his precious suit, painted over and looking like a damn 4th of July poster boy costume.  
He glares at Rhodey as they sit in the bar however Rhodey cuts him off before he could comment "It tested well with focus groups okay?"  
Tony rolls his eyes before clearing his throat "I am Iron Patriot!" He forces out gruffly before shrugging "It sucks."  
"Listen." Rhodey says trying to argue his case "War Machine was a little too aggressive. All right? This sends a better message."

Tony sighs, clearly not happy but clenches his jaw "So what's really going on? With the Mandarin. Seriously can we talk about this guy?"  
Rhodey sighs "Stop avoiding the topic."  
"I'm not. I'm just causal ignoring the topic. So?"  
Rhodey sighs before shaking his head he knew Tony needed to talk but he wouldn't do it without a little push "I'll make you a deal you go than me."  
Tony groans "Fine ask away?"  
"How is she?" Rhodey asks instantly, the godfather in him clearly worried about the young woman.

Tony sighs and runs his hands through his hair "She watched her best friend die saving my life. And the lives of everyone in New York. She doesn't sleep; she had panic attacks constantly the first month after it happened. She's rough."  
"And you?"  
Tony turns to him and looks him straight in the eye as he answers "Her best friend died saving my life, a 23-year-old girl is dead. It should have been me. How do you think I'm doing?"

Rhodey sighs feeling for his friend, it wasn't his friend's fault, Willow would have taken the missile herself no matter who had been trying to move it. She had told Buffy she needed to make the mistake right, it was just by chance that it was Tony that she had directly stopped from making the sacrifice.  
Tony rolls his eyes he could see the sympathy in Rhodes' eyes and he didn't want it, he wanted a project to focus on. So right now in that box landed The Mandarin "My turn."

Rhodey sighs but nods he made a deal and he would follow it "It's classified information, Tony. Okay, there have been nine bombings. The public only knows about three. But here's the thing nobody can ID a device. There are no bomb casings."  
"You know I can help. Just ask..." Tony pauses as his phone starts ringing "Hold that thought sweet cheeks." He taps Rhodey on the cheek before pausing his face falls "Wait, what?"  
Rhodey frowns as he watches Tony, spotting the look on concern appear on his face, clearly whatever he was being told was not good.  
"Is she okay?...I'll be right there."  
Tony abruptly stands making Rhodey pause "Tony what is it?"

"Buffy."

* * *

"I can't breathe." Buffy gasps as Happy sits her down at her desk.  
Happy places his hands on her shoulder "Shhh. Breath, you're okay."  
Buffy gasps again, slowly she takes a long deep breath trying to calm herself down, her heart was pounding in her chest almost painfully.

"Buffy." A small voice asks, Buffy looks up to see Pepper enter the room a worried frown on her face.

Buffy's lip begins trembling before shaking her head, she clenches her chair tightly not noticing that she had ripped the arms from the metal chair when she had been struggling to breathe.  
Pepper gives Happy a tap on the shoulder letting him know that she had this, as he backs up she crouches down in front of her "Buffy, I know it's hard but I need you to breath." When Buffy gasps again Pepper sighs and runs a hand over the young woman's cheek "Shh. Okay breath with me. In and out...in and out..."  
Pepper repeats this several times and slowly Buffy calms.

Pepper smiles before hugging the small blonde for a few more minutes until she was sure she was okay.  
"I'm sorry." Buffy says softly as she looks up at Pepper and quickly wipes her eyes, attempting to fix her makeup.  
Pepper smiles fondly at the girl "Look I'll push our meeting till after my 4.00. But right now there is someone who wants to see you."

Buffy looks up to see Tony walk into her office "Dad." She breaths before running over and hugging him tightly.

* * *

After leaving Buffy with Tony Pepper heads towards her office trying to ignore Happy's comments regarding the issue with human resources.  
She sighs and stops in her steps turning to face him however before she could say anything a voice cuts her off, "Miss Potts, you're 4:00 is here." Her assistant says.  
Pepper offers the young woman a smile "Thank you." She says politely before turning back to Happy who was now heavily focused on the assistant.  
"Did you clear this 4:00 with me?"  
"Happy." She says sternly "We'll talk about this later, but right now, I have to go deal with this very annoying thing."

"How so?" Happy asks as he moves to follow her inside.  
"I used to work with him and he used to ask me out all the time, so it's a little awkward." She whispers as she opens the door.

The man in her office turns to face the door and raises his phone back to his ear "Thank you, Marcus, I will let the Senior Partners know how the meeting goes."  
He hangs up the phone and circles the desk till he was facing Pepper Potts, a smirk forms on his face "Pepper."  
Pepper's jaw drops at the sight of the man who had once looked so different yet now looked so sophisticated "Killian?"

* * *

"What happened?" Tony asks as he sits opposite Buffy on the couch, her hands were shaking and she looked like she had seen a ghost.  
"I—um..." Buffy takes a deep breath before running her hands through her long wavy hair, pulling at the strands lightly "The press were outside and one of them asked about the wormhole. And...it just felt like the oxygen was sucked out of me."  
Tony sighs and pushes the hair out of her face, she looked so tired "Buffy, you need to get some rest."  
"I can't." She says shaking him off before standing "I can't sleep, dad. All I see is her going through that portal."

Tony groans he didn't know what to do for her, she needed something or someone to talk to and right now it wasn't him.  
"I'm not gonna push you to talk Buffy, but you need to talk to someone, you need to let someone in."

Buffy listens to his words carefully, he was right, she needed to open up, and there may be someone she can talk to, someone who has lost just as much as she has.  
She smiles at her father before hugging him "Thank, dad."  
"Anytime Buffster."

Tony smiles at her before ruffling her hair, however before he could say anything else his phone starts ringing "Happy." He mumbles before giving his daughter an apologetic smile and a kiss on the forehead "I'll see you at home." He says before heading towards the exit and answering his phone.

* * *

"Pepper?" Buffy says hesitantly as she enters the office, ignoring Happy's over protective and ridiculous begging of her not to.  
She had finally managed to compose herself and honestly, she just wanted to get this meeting with the board over.  
Pepper who was sat opposite Aldrich turns to the blonde and smiles "Buffy, please come in."  
Aldrich stands and smiles at the small blonde "I see this is the new genius on the throne. Miss Stark I assume." He says before holding out his hand towards the young woman.

Buffy looks at the man sceptically, there was something off about him, but nothing overly suspicious she smiles and shakes his hand "You'd be correct. About the Stark part anyway."

"Aldrich Killian." He says introducing himself "You've come just in time. Pepper says you're something of a weapon's expert."  
Buffy frowns and turns to the redhead, slightly confused.  
Pepper sighs, she had been hoping to keep Buffy out of this, Aldrich hated her father and she doubted that Buffy would keep from pumbling him if he insulted her dad. Plus she had promised Buffy that today would merely be an introduction to the board, she hadn't planned to throw her into the business headfirst but it seemed like it was too late.

"She is." Pepper says with a smile as she places a hand on Buffy's back making the girl un-tense slightly "Knows weapons from every century, make, use, original names, history. She knows it all."  
Aldrich raises an eyebrow impressed "Really? Roman empire."  
Buffy smirks, letting the arrogant Stark side of her show slightly "Pugio side arm dagger used by Roman Soldier, Sagittarii a bow normally made from wood and my personal favourite cheiroballistra...a crossbow."

Aldrich lets out a shocked but impressed breath "A new genius on the throne indeed." He murmurs before smiling "Perhaps you could convince Pepper of my proposal."  
Pepper glares at him slightly before forcing a smile on her face "We really should be getting to our next meeting."  
"Pepper." Aldrich tries to argue however she cuts him off.  
"It's getting a no, Aldrich." Pepper says sternly before turning to the young blonde.

Aldrich sighs, hiding his frustration, he stands and kisses Pepper on the cheek, making her fluster slightly, while also making Buffy clench her fist "I can't say I'm not disappointed." He turns to Buffy offering her a small smile "It was a pleasure young Stark. Nice to meet a Stark with less of an ego and more of an appreciation of history."  
Buffy glares at him for the sly snide comment at her father but despite it puts a smile on her face "Yes, you too Killian. But you know what they say history always repeats itself and unlike my father I'll be sober when I turn down your proposal."  
Aldrich scoffs out a breath in amusement before heading out of the office.

Buffy glares at him before turning to Pepper whose cheeks had gone bright red "Pep?" she asks concerned.

Pepper shakes herself out of her own thoughts and turns to the young girl, pushing the blonde curls out of Buffy's face she smiles. "I'm fine. We better get to the meeting with the board."  
Buffy nods but can't help but worry, something was off with Pepper and it worried her.

Pepper herself who was still flustered shakes her head and opens the door leading Buffy out of the office, she needed to focus on this meeting. The board wanted to see Buffy, none of them had seen her in years and they needed to see how she had grown because they knew that one day Pepper intended for Buffy to take over Stark Industries as CEO while she herself worked as her COO helping her through it all. It was time that a Stark came back to the company and take the position that Howard had always intended for his son.

* * *

Buffy's Business Attire - ( /images/I2TLxG)


	4. Chapter 4

"She said no?" Marcus asks as Aldrich walks into AIM, after the battle with Angelus and his group Wolfram and Hart had gone into hiding, turning invisible. They now hid behind the AIM brand, running it all from the old building but without anyone being aware. It was perfect they could run the strings without raising suspicion of the Slayer.  
Aldrich groans in annoyance "Don't worry, she'll agree soon enough."  
"Summers won't." Marcus says before clenching his fist "If you screwed this up, Killian..." Marcus grabs him by the throat and yanks him off his feet holding him 2 feet off the ground.  
Alrich graps and yammers at Marcus' hand with no success as he attempts to breathe "...not only will I rip you to pieces but the Senior Partners will make sure your soul suffers."

After a moment Marcus appears to have become slightly bored, he releases Killian letting him drop to the ground before crouching down in front of him "Or better yet I'll let the devil herself do it."  
Killian gulps before nodding, that woman terrified him more than anything, ever since he had met her he had seen nothing but death.

* * *

"What the hell is that?" Buffy asks Pepper as they climb out of the car after the meeting with the board only to be met with a giant 10ft stuffed rabbit in the driveway.  
Pepper closes her car door only for her jaw to drop as she spots the rabbit "You have got to be kidding me?" She shakes her head unamused "This is your father's idea of a joke."  
Buffy shakes her head chuckling slightly; the man was really clueless when it came to women.

"You did fine." Pepper tells her as they walk towards the front door, she had noticed the look of worry on Buffy's face since they left the board meeting.

Buffy sighs, she wasn't so sure. She wasn't built for this, she was built for destruction, and now that she and Faith were the only ones with their strength anymore it just seemed odd to be thinking about Stark Industries. The only thing that kept her from freaking out was the fact that majority of the now ex-slayers were well trained enough that the loss of their strength hadn't stopped them from wanting to protect the world. Although she worried, Xander and the others had fought by her side without any training for years, these girls had the training and skills of Slayers.

Shaking her head she pulls herself off her train of thought and back to Stark Industries, the meeting had gone well, too well in her opinion. They wanted her to take up a more leadership role in the company, if she knew any better she'd begin to think that they were trying to groom her to take over.  
"I hope so." Buffy says truthfully, she may not want this but this was her family's company, her father and her grandfather's legacy.

Pepper smiles at the young woman before freezing as they two of them step into the house only to spot Tony sat on the couch in the new Mark 42.  
"You're wearing this in the house now?" Pepper asks astonished.  
Buffy winces "Not a good move man. The beast of Pepper is going to be released." She shakes her head "This is a couple problem...and I have something—well I have that thing...alright screw it...I don't wanna be here right now...bye."  
She quickly escapes the room heading down to the gym allowing the couple to argue or whatever they were going to do, she really didn't want to think about it.

Pepper watches in amusement as Buffy makes her escape before moving to the couch to take off her shoes, they may be Prada but that didn't mean her feet didn't kill like a bitch after 12 hours on her feet.

"Bye Buff." Tony calls before turning to his lovely girlfriend, approaching her slowly "Well, hey, did you see your Christmas present?"

Pepper pauses slightly "Yes, I did. I...I don't know how I could've missed that Christmas present. Is it gonna fit through the door?" She asks before bending down picking up the Iron Man fan mail off the table, as Tony speaks Pepper blocks him out as she spots an image of Tony in the suit and Buffy in her get-up. She sighs, so far it seemed like no one had any idea about the true identity of the Slayer...she chuckles remembering the message she had received from Buffy's friend Xander, he had sent a small leak to the press, something about making sure he got to be the one that got Buffy a badass superhero name.

"Tense? Good day? Huh?" Tony asks as he begins rubbing her shoulder shocking her out of her thoughts "I don't want to harp on this but did you like the custom rabbit?"  
Pepper moans before shaking her head "Did I like it?"

* * *

Buffy throws her fist out hitting the punching bag so hard that the bag swings violently however she managed to contain herself enough to keep herself from punching it off the hook and breaking it. She had broken enough punching bags over the years.  
However, as her hits become less controlled it was becoming clearer that she was more than likely about to break another.

She clenches her eyes shut for a moment only to panic as she sees Willow flying towards the portal again and again. Her eyes slam open and she slams her fist right into the punching bag.

"Arg." She groans as she slowly removes her hand from inside the punching bag, however as she sees the blood visions of her best friend over the years fill her head.  
From them meeting to Willow bringing her back to life and going evil, to finally the moment that was seared into her brain. Willow sacrificing her life for all of them.  
Buffy runs her hands through her hair ripping at the strands to keep her centred.

She gasps as suddenly her phone starts ringing, she frowns slightly she had spoken to Xander a few days ago so there would be no reason for him to be calling. However, as she spots the caller I.D she can't help the small grin that appears on her face.  
"I see you finally learned the art of calling from your cell phone." She says into the phone as she hops onto the table.  
The male on the other line chuckles _"Well you did tell me you wouldn't answer if I called from a payphone."  
_ Buffy smiles "That I did...so what can I do for you, Steve?"

* * *

Pepper stands to lean against Tony, pressing herself up against the metal suit, she smiles mischievously up at him "So why don't you lift up that face mask and give me a kiss."  
Shockingly he doesn't, he merely taps the side of his metal mask, as he does the mask doesn't open "Yep. Damn it, no can do. You want to just kiss it on the..." Tony taps the facial slit on the mask of the suit "...the facial slit?"  
"Uh-huh." Pepper says before looking up at him hungrily "Well, why don't I run down to the garage and see if I can't find a crowbar to jimmy that thing open?"

Tony momentarily stunned nods "Crowbar, yeah." He murmurs only to panic as he spots her moving towards the garage "Oh! Except there's been a radiation leak." He stammers.  
"I'll take my chances." She says as she practically skips down the stairs.  
"That's risky." He says as he moves to follow her.

As Pepper walks into the garage her anger goes sky high as she spots Tony, the real Tony doing pull out muttering to himself as the suit following her speaks to her.  
Finally, he lowers himself "Busted." He says as he turns to her.  
She merely stares at him unamused "This is a new level of lame." She then turns her head and spots the empty pizza box "You ate without me on date night, really? You do realise Buffy had promised to go out tonight for a reason."

* * *

 _"_ _Are you alright?"_ Steve asks Buffy. The two of them had become quite close in the months after Willow's death. He had made Fury show him how to use a phone so that he could check on her while she was in Scotland and since then the two of them had remained close, speaking whenever they could and trying to see each other often.

Honestly, it scared her slightly how close they had become so quickly, but she cared about him and he was one of the few people she found herself being able to open up to.  
"I'm fine." She promises knowing he wasn't going to believe her "What about you staying safe?"  
 _"_ _Safe as houses."  
_ Buffy frowns at the unfamiliar phrase "What?"  
Steve chuckles in amusement he sometimes forgot that he hadn't actually known her that long and she wasn't used to the old fashioned catchphrases _"It's a figure of speech."  
_ Buffy chuckles "Sure gramps."

* * *

"Aldrich Killian!" Pepper exclaims as both Tony and the suit continue staring at her "What, are you checking up on me?"  
"No. I was checking up on my daughter and Happy was concenered." Tony argues.  
Pepper shakes her head, she was pissed first he was spying on Buffy constantly being over-protective now he was doing it to her. This was getting beyond ridiculous.

 _"_ _Mr. Stark."_ Jarvis' voice cuts through the room like a thin vall of ice.  
Tony groans now was really not the time "Not now Jar."  
 _"_ _Apologies sir, however you asked me to inform you if Mr. Rodgers called Ms. Stark again."_

Pepper's eyes widen in disbelief, he wouldn't would he? She asks herself hoping that he had not gone to literally tapping his daughter's phone "You didn't?" She asks.  
Tony's eyes widen before turing to the computer screen "I didn't tap her phone, if that's what you're asking, but she's in the gym that's public domain."  
"Oh, my god." Pepper breaths completely stunned.

 _"_ _The two seem to be having a pleasent conversation sir..."  
_ "You're insane." Pepper tells Tony before turning her back on him "I'm going to bed. And Buffy is 23 years old. Leave her be."

Tony groans before turning to Pepper as she heads up the stairs "Fine. I admit it. I'm a mess."  
At his words she pauses on the stairs, slowly she approaches him watching him carefully trying to see if he was tricking her again.  
"Nothing's been the same since New York." Tony tells her.  
Pepper scoffs "Ph, really? I didn't notice that at all." She was getting annoyed now, she knew this.

"I'm talking about Buffy. You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain them. Gods, aliens and other diemsoins. I'm just a man in a can. And my kid, her witch best friend died in front of her. She doesn't sleep without having nightmares, she spends every waking hour on the streets pumbling criminals or in the office because she doesn't know how to express that grief. You wonder why I'm spying on her... because I'm worried. I can't explain what happened to her or what she's feeling and it's killing me. And the only reason I haven't cracked is probably because you moved in and got her to come back here."

"Tony." Pepper says with a sigh before stepping closer to him "I get it. I love Buffy too and I worry but you can't spend every waking moment making sure she's not falling apart and you can't spy on her."

Tony groans in annoyance he hated this, hated that he couldn't fix it, but what he hated most was the thought that she was going to go through this again. Slowly he looks up at Pepper "Threat is imminent. And I have to protect the one thing I can't live without. And that's her. I died when she did, I can't survive without her."

* * *

 _"_ _That's not a pleasant side of you, Buffy."_ Steve says humour hinting in his voice.  
Buffy smiles at that, for the first time in a while a true honest to god smile "Well, you know the deal I will stop making fun of you when you learn how to use that thing on your phone called a keypad."  
Steve laughs slightly, his conversations with Buffy were one of the only things in this new time that made him feel as though he could actually belong here.  
 _"_ _It's impersonal...plus I like hearing the sound of your voice."_ He says nervously before clearling his throat _"So how long till your father cuts this coversation short?"_

Buffy frowns before pulling out her tablet, clicking onto the security footage she watched for a second as Pepper and Tony argued before spotting her father move towards the computer "About 15 seconds."  
The two stay in a comfortable silence for a moment before finally Steve sighs, this over-protective father thing was a pain in the ass " _I'll reach out soon."  
_ "I hope so." She says quietly before hanging up the phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy groans turning onto her side as bad dreams continue to plague her, her eyes clenched shut as she remembers the screaming and the blood as the aliens trampling New York.

 _Buffy's eyes widen as she spots her father grabbing ahold of the missile as it comes flying past the forcefield currently covering the island of Manhattan.  
_ _"_ _Dad! Dad! What are you doing?!" She stammers into her comms watching as he flew above Stark Tower towards the portal where the aliens were still pouring out.  
_ _"_ _Hey, Buff." He says over comms, his voice breaking as he speaks.  
_ _Buffy's breathing picks up as the panic settles in "That's a one-way trip dad, get your ass back down here now!"_

 _"_ _Sorry kiddo. I have to. You've always been the hero in the family. Let me do this..." Tony takes a long pause trying to keep himself together as he said his final goodbye to his daughter "I love you, Buffy."_

 _As her comms go silent her mouth falls open releasing a horrified gasp as the reality of what was about to happen. Her shaky hand covers her mouth as she looks up at the sky and spots her father getting closer and closer to the portal.  
_ _Turning to Willow, who was watching her with a sympathetic eye "Please." She begs her best friend "There has to be a way!"_

 _As the words leave her lips Buffy freezes, this was all too familiar, something wasn't right._

 _"_ _I love you, Buff. But this is my doing. I need to fix it."  
_ _As the words leave Willow's mouth Buffy eyes widen in panic, this was it, she had done this before._

 _Suddenly she was no longer on the roof of Stark Tower she was on the street, a broken metal suit at her feet her father's arms wrapped around her keeping her back. Looking up at the sky her mouth drops open in horror as the portal consumes her best friend "Noooooooo!"_

"Willow!" Buffy exclaims as she sits up in bed gasping for air, suddenly she feels something grasp her arm, in a panic she grabs it and tosses it on the ground.  
Grabbing the blade from underneath her bed she leaps up prepared for an attack only to freeze as she spots one of Tony's suits standing opposite her.

"Buffy!" Tony exclaims as him and Pepper run into the room.  
Tony turns to the suit as it moves towards Buffy "Power down."

As Tony moves towards the suit to dismantle it Buffy drops the knife in her hand and begins hyperventilating.  
"Buffy?" Pepper says softly as she approaches the blonde girl, Buffy turns to her tears dripping down her face. Pepper sighs with worry before wrapping her arms around the young girl.

As Pepper consoles the young girl, she glances at Tony "Why is that thing up here?!" She hisses.  
"It's set up to answer to anyone with Stark blood. She must have called it in her sleep. That's not supposed to happen. I'll recalibrate the sensors." Tony says in a panic before looking over at his daughter and sighing, she was looking worse for wear.

Buffy finally pulls away from Pepper and turns to Tony "I don't want that thing anywhere near me." She hisses as images of the suit collapsed on the ground preventing her from saving Willow fill her mind.

Pepper glares at Tony before placing a hand on Buffy's back "Wait." Tony begs as Pepper leads Buffy out of the room.  
Pepper stares at him before shaking her head "I'm gonna stay with Buffy in the guest room. Tinker with that." She says glaring at the scattered pieces of metal around the room.

* * *

"Marcus." One of the senior partners says as the man they had imbued with power approaches the council.  
Marcus bends down on one knee bowing down to the council, it was a sign of respect for them bringing him back after Angelus had killed him. He had to respect that they thought he was useful.  
"You summoned me?" He asks curiously, he was a bit confused as to the reason why.

The three members of the council lower themselves from their pedestals revealing their true forms, The Wolf, Ram and Hart.  
"Lupus." Marcus says quietly as The Wolf himself approaches him, although not actually a wolf the God himself was thought to have the heart and deadliness of its chosen animal.

Lupus smiles at their minion "How is our operation going?"  
"Killian is an idiot, but his work is not a reflection of that." Marcus says honestly "The serum he created with the information you gave him has worked. His subjects are stronger and much less damageable than we thought."

Suddenly the click of heels from down the hall makes everyone in the room freeze, Marcus looks over and to his surprise, even the God's themselves look terrified by the sound.

Suddenly the two doors slam open and a hooded figure walks into the room wearing a long black gown while two men follow her into the room.  
"Well, well, well." She whistles as she strolls over to the Council who all back away and crouch down at her feet.  
"Looky what we have here?" She says before sitting down on the seat in the middle of the room "Having a meeting without me?"  
"Of course not, ma'am." Marcus says to the devil herself as she looks down at him with black eyes.

"Good." She says cheerfully as her insane eyes fill with joy before an evil smirk covers her face "So what have we learned?"  
"The serum is working better than we could have hoped." Marcus tells her hoping not to piss her off, he had heard stories about the horrors she had committed since her arrival.  
"That's good. My Lord wants The Avengers torn apart one by one. Starting with one of their strongest, The Slayer."  
Marcus nods in understanding; the Slayer was definitely one of their most difficult adversaries, strong and smart much more so than Angelus was before his death.

* * *

Happy crashes into the man with the briefcase causing him to smile, he hides his smile as the man who had been speaking to the man from AIM who had been suspicious, bends down to grab his suitcase.  
Happy bends down sneaking one of the items from the briefcase into his pocket as he helps the other man "Sorry buddy." He says before standing, as he walks away he pulls the metal object out of his pocket, however, it distracted him enough that he crashes into someone else.

As he turns to face the man he had crashed into, he pauses as he spots the creep from Stark Industries now smiling at him.  
"What are you are you doing here, buddy?" The creep asks "You out by yourself? A little date night? Seeing your favourite chick flick, maybe?"

Happy tilts his head in annoyance this prick was getting on his nerves "Yeah, a little movie called The Party's Over, starring you and your junkie girlfriend. Here's the ticket." He says as he raises the metal object allowing him to see it.

All amusement in the creep's face disappears at the sight of the object "No kidding. That doesn't belong to you."  
He moves to grab it but Happy throws a punch, which the creep easily deflects, Happy frowns at the strength and speed of the other man before throwing another punch. This time he hits him, shattering the bone in his nose.

His head swings to the side before he turns back to Happy, Happy's eyes widen as a red glow covers the creep's face healing his broken nose.

* * *

Buffy tightens her belt around her before slipping on her short leather jacket, she looks down the hall to make sure that Pepper hadn't heard her leave, once she was sure Pepper was still asleep she grabs her touchpad and quickly flips through the security footage, finding her father working on yet another design in the garage.

She puts the security cameras outside her room and the guest room on a loop to keep Jarvis from seeing her leave.  
Tossing her tablet on the bed she grabs her black gloves, they were a new design of her father's. As far as she knew he had some sort of present for her and these gloves were just a sneak peek...if it were her guess it was another suit for her.

She sighs before staring at the gloves they were powered with the same energy that her bo-staffs had been powered with, they released pulses of energy and worked on a smaller level as well allowing her to run electricity through small objects and people like a stunner.

Climbing onto the balcony she leaps off it and onto the ground below where her motorbike was hidden, climbing on she speeds down the driveway, releasing a small EMP from her phone as she does to avoid getting caught on the security footage.

* * *

Scotland, United Kingdom

Xander paces through his office, this couldn't be happening, he thinks remembering back to the conversation he had just had with one of the ex-slayers who had decided to stay and continues to fight the battle against evil, despite her lack of strength. To his surprise majority of the girls over 18 had decided to stay in their positions only requesting more backup due to their lack of strength and more magical assistance from Willow's group of witches.

As he thinks of Willow he sighs sadly, his best friend was gone, yes, she was a hero but she was gone and he never got to say goodbye. He had to watch her die on the TV, he had felt helpless in that moment, frozen as he was forced to watch her death without being able to stop it. It had been like when Buffy had dived off the tower those years ago all over again.

He groans in frustration before sitting down at his desk, he was trying to focus on the phone call he had just received. Someone had attacked Faith. She had been meeting her parole officer and somehow someone had set her up, she had been attached by 20 demons.

He runs his fingers through his hair trying to think, Faith was in a coma and they had no idea who had set this up. Something big was going on, someone or something was behind all of this, he could feel it.

Sighing he leans back in his chair and looks at the photo on the wall, it was of them right after they came to Scotland. A sad smile grazes his lips before his computers start beeping.

Frowning he turns to see a search he had been running was complete, his eyes widen before a dark look covers his features.


	6. Chapter 6

East L.A

Buffy raises her hands sending a pulse of red energy at the speeding car. When the car wheels burst she grins before watching the criminals climb out of the vehicles with their machine guns.  
The blonde haired man, who was clearly the leader of the group turns to his mates "Kill anything that moves."

As he raises his gun Buffy's eyes widen, it looked exactly like one of the chitauri weapons. When he starts shooting at a nearby store, Buffy uses his distraction and comes up behind him and whistles, "Looky what we have here."  
When he turns attempting to shoot her she grabs the gun and tosses it away, she backhands him across the face before grabbing the front of his jacket and yanking him towards her before headbutting him in the face,

Suddenly the man drops to his knees a look of horror on his face "He got me. He'll kill us all." He tells the blonde before collapsing at her feet.

Buffy frowns in confusion before looking down at her hands, they were now drenched in blood, she clenches her eyes shut as visions of her best friend going towards her death fill her mind.  
Clenching her jaw she forces the visions down as the sound of the blonde's other men climbing out of the car draw her attention.

Turning her head she spots an older woman about to get shot "Get down!" Buffy yells as she runs forward and tackles the woman behind a car protecting her from getting hit.

The two duck behind a car before the sound of a motorcycle engine catches Buffy's attention. Turning away from the woman Buffy climbs out from behind the car to see the two lackeys fire a rocket launcher which had clearly been updated with alien tech, towards the motorcycle and its driver.

Buffy's eyes widen in shock as instead of the bike blowing up it flips through the air the wheels lighting up with a bright orange and red flame before landing back on the road and speeding towards the two men who were looking just as horrified as she was.  
Buffy flinches as the motorcycle crashes into the side of the men's car causing a massive flame to surround the men in the car and effectively shutting her out.

"Ahh!" She hears one of them scream before the sounds of a chain and bones crunching and snapping make her pause.  
Grabbing the scythe off her back she makes her towards the flames only for blood to splatter over her face, wiping it off she frowns, before stepping closer to the flames.

As she does it's then that she sees it, a man with a burning skull for a face climbing back onto the flaming motorcycle and speeding away with one of the men from the vehicle laid across the back, while the others were lying in pools of their own blood on the floor.

"What the damn hell?" Buffy hisses, there was weird and then there was well...that. Shaking her head trying to figure out what she had just seen she places the scythe back on her back before climbing onto her own motorcycle and following the burning trail the creature had left in the middle of the street.

* * *

Buffy follows the trail of burnt concrete finally stopping her bike as she comes to stop outside Quentin Carnival. She frowns she had never seen this place before never even heard about it.

When she hears screaming coming from inside she climbs off the bike and reaches for the scythe before heading into the abandoned carnival.

As she makes her way towards the screams she can't help but spot the dust and spider webs filling the carnival, the place was abandoned, it looked like no one had been here in years.  
Climbing up onto the scaffolding by the largest tent she climbs into the large tent using the metal poles inside to keep herself in the air.

"Ahhhh!" She hears someone scream from below.  
Frowning she looks down only to spot one of the guys from the car, he was tied to a chair blood covering the majority of his face.  
Just as she moves to lower herself Buffy freezes as she hears the sound of metal studded boots moving further into the room.

Confusion filled her as it was not the burning skull that she saw bellow her but in fact a rather attractive blonde man wearing a large leather jacket. He seemed quite built and the stubble on his face was giving off a very bad boy vibe, he couldn't be more than a few years older than herself.

However, she quit admiring the young man the minute she spotted him approaching the idiot from the car with murder in his eyes.  
She lets go of the metal pole, allowing herself to drop 15 feet to the ground, landing right in front of the blonde man and smiling up at him "Hi."

The blonde frowns in confusion, the girl must have dropped a good 15 feet yet she stood there without a scratch on her. Shaking his head, he didn't have the time nor the patience for this, he glares at the young raven haired woman "This is not exactly the place for you little girl."

When Buffy spots the look in his eyes that only a moment ago had been directed at the guy behind her who was now scampering fo the exit, her eyes darken. She raises her hand shooting a red pulse at him sending the blonde crashing into a metal pole.

The pole dents but the man himself seems unharmed making Buffy's eyes widen, instinctively she clutches the scythe twirling it in her grasps.

The man tilts his head in interest watching the scythe before settling on the girls face, "So, you've got the devil inside you too." He says before grabbing onto the now broken pole.  
Buffy's eyes widen in horror as flames suddenly surround the pole, she quickly gets back into focus however as the man speeds towards her. She clutches the scythe in her hand and runs at him, prepared for the fight.

* * *

Tony twirls his chair allowing himself to spin a few more times before he pauses, staring at the clock he sighs, it was only half one in the morning. With a shrug he turns back to his desk, he could get in a few more hours of planning before he needed to sleep, it's not like Pepper was going to be in his room tonight anyway so what the hell.  
"Dummie, coffee!" He orders the robot arm in the corner of the room, which immediately makes it's way to the coffee machine.

Tony groans as he hears a glass shatter and then a mug, he shakes his head in annoyance before turning back to the sketch on his desk. The sketch of Buffy's next suit.

* * *

Buffy swings the scythe at the man as she does she spots the name on the wall behind him _'Johnny Blaze.'_

When he knocks her scythe away she ducks under his arm and punches him in the stomach twice before blocking his next blow, she grabs his arm and twists it violently before lifting up her leg and kneeing him in the ribs. She twists his arm again before tossing him across the room.

"So Blaze...I'm guessing." She says as he stands and growls at her, he was surprised by her strength and speed, he had never come across someone who could match him and who was possibly stronger than him.

When he stands and moves to attack her she raises her hand shooting out a pulse before running over to him as he stumbles and pinning him to another pole by his throat.  
"What the hell are you?" He hisses finding himself unable to break her hold.

Buffy, tilts her head in interest "Me? What the hell are you?" She asks still completely confused before frowning at him "A killer I got but..."  
"Not a killer."  
"Really?" She asks putting on a fake blonde smile, even though right now all he could see was the black hair of her wig "Cause I thought ripping a man to pieces counted as murder. Oops silly me."  
Johnny glares at her "I only kill those that deserve it!"

Buffy glares at him before hitting him with all her strength sending him crashing out of the tent and onto the concrete ground outside the tent.

Buffy climbs through the hole he had made standing above him before she flips over him as he stands and kicks him square in the chest before pressing her left foot on his knee and wrapping her other leg around his neck.

She twists herself around his neck causing him to flip through the air and land painfully on the ground while she merely flips herself back up easily "What makes you the one that gets to decide?"  
Johnny gets onto his knees and looks up at the young woman through his blonde locks as he finally loses control "I'm not the one that decides."

Buffy's eyes widen as Johnny turns his head to the side, grunting in pain as the flesh begins melting off his face, as the flesh continues to burn off of his face his skull slowly comes into view before his entire face was nothing more than a burning skull, burning brighter than anything she had ever seen.

As she stares in horror at the creature before her she pauses as she feels the heat coming from behind her, turning her head she spots flames filling the tent behind them.

However, she quickly turns back to Blaze as he raises a burning metal pole towards her, raising her hand she shoots off a pulse towards him knocking the pole from his burning grasps.

He growls before punching her in the stomach sending her flying backwards, as she rolls across the floor she coughs violently trying to ignore the pain in her ribs.  
She blinks and spots the scythe right by her hand, grabbing it she flips back to her feet, just narrowly missing his hand from connecting with her again.

Doing a backflip she kicks him in the face as her legs swing through the air, once she lands back on her feet she moves to swing the scythe but he catches in his palm.  
Suddenly he hisses in what Buffy could only assume was pain and rips the scythe from her grasp completely before throwing it away.

Before Buffy could even process his reaction to the scythe he wraps a hand around her neck yanking her off her feet and off the ground, causing her to hover above the ground.

As she gasps for breath he slams her against the ground violently causing her to slam her head painfully against the concrete, making her vision blur slightly.  
As she attempts to catch her breath Blaze slams his fist into the large concrete wall beside her that had been built for the carnival.

The concrete wall shatters in two and the largest half drops in Buffy's direction.  
Buffy's eyes widen in shock, she quickly raises her hand catching the concrete before it could crush her, but the pain in her ribs and her struggle to breath was making it very difficult for her to keep the concrete from crushing and killing her.

As she struggles sweat drips down her face as the flaming man crouches down in front of her, hovering so close that the heat from the flames was causing her to boil.

As he crouches down in front of her watching her intently, almost as if he was deciding whether or not to kill her, she feels a part of herself give in. A part of her that wants to go back to that peace that she had experienced so long ago.  
Before she could stop the words she looks up at him "Do it." She breaths her words filled with emotion "I deserve it."

As the words leave her lips she couldn't help but believe them, so much had happened, she may have saved many but there were still so many dead because of her decisions. The young Slayers that died in the battle with The First, Willow and so many others. In this moment, faced with death, she couldn't help but be tempted.

"Do it." She says one last time however surprisingly Blaze stands moving away from her.  
Buffy lies there stunned and confused for a moment before finally reality settles back in with a final heave she forces the concrete off of her and to the ground beside her.  
She coughs again wincing slightly as she moves to sit up, clutching her ribs she looks around for Blaze only to sigh as she spots the motorcycle he was on speeding away.

* * *

 **A/N: Johnny Blaze - Chris Zylka**


	7. Chapter 7

Scotland, United Kingdom

"How long till we know it's her for sure?" Xander asks one of the witches in the common room of the castle as he stares at the security footage that had been found.

The raven-haired witch lowers herself to the ground to approach Xander while the other witches continue to practice their levitating "I felt her energy. Ever since she escaped from the World Council, I have been tracking her energy."  
Selene places her hand on Xander's shoulder turning him to face her "It's Amy...she knows we have been looking for her. She's been covering her energy from us...I believe she was injured that's how we were finally able to feel her."

Xander pauses and runs a hand through his hair, he was tired and frustrated but now he had the chance to finally get to Amy and make her pay for what she did to Willow.  
Stepping away from Selene, Xander steps closer to the screen staring at the image of Amy from 24 hours ago "Find her. Now!"

* * *

Buffy raises her hand towards the night security guard as she steps into the hospital sending a pulse at him, as he drops to his knees she walks past him driving her knee into his face.  
"Sorry." She mutters as he collapses unconscious.

Turning down the hall she walks down towards the room at the end of the hall where she knew that the idiot would be.  
Kicking down the door she smiles at criminal from earlier, the only one left alive "So, how are we feeling today?" She asks as she slams the door to his room shut and rips the door knob off the door with her bare hands before tossing it across the room.

She approaches the bed carefully before smirking "I was looking for you and your...well ex-partners now...for a while there. You know killing, stealing not exactly the sign of a good guy." Buffy pauses and tilts her head at the blonde "But not why I'm here. You know why I'm here."

The blonde gulps the fear evident on his face, except for the first time in a while the fear wasn't of her, it was of something else, something that terrified him a lot more.

The man winces in pain as he attempts to move "He nailed me...but we almost got away."  
Buffy tilts her head in confusion "What is it?"  
"Did he kill my friends?" The man asks completely ignoring her question.

Buffy rolls her eyes in annoyance before sighing "All but one...last I saw your other friend was running...my guess this...thing...is hunting him as we speak. But if you want me to actually try and keep him alive you're gonna have to give me a bit more."

The man grunts in agony as he slowly sits up in the bed and looks at her seriously "Save him, please. Before he gets burned too."

Buffy frowns in confusion by the tone of his voice, it was like he thought he was never going to get the chance, before she could say anything else the man climbs out of the bed and limps over to her, the blood from his earlier wound now dripping heavily.  
"It's too late for me. They say when the Rider burns you...he burns your soul. And a soul can never heal."  
Buffy's eyes widen as he collapses on the ground taking a final breath before completely bleeding out and his heart beat going flat. He was dead.

She frowns in confusion before moving towards the window and climbing out, something here wasn't right. She needed to find Blaze right now.

* * *

Buffy climbs into the old abandoned apartment through the fire escape before sighing, it had been so long since she had been here.  
She looks around the apartment she had hidden in after Angel's death and sighs gratefully, it was a good thing that Anne no longer lived here. Otherwise, this would be extremely hard to explain.

With a groan she moves to sit on her old bed so glad that she had bought the apartment under another name with her trust fund, this was the place she came when she got injured during her nights out, which thankfully her father had yet to discover.

Pulling off her wig and glasses she slowly peels off her jacket before making her way into the bathroom, switching on the light she looks at her bruised and bloody face groaning in disgust.

Moaning she slowly starts to wipe the blood from her face with a wet cloth before looking at her reflection, she looked exhausted there were bags under her eyes and the cut on her eyebrow looked deep.  
Sighing she pulls herself away from the mirror and back into the main room, pulling out her tablet from the bag she plugs in her earplugs before taking a deep breath and doing something she knew she really shouldn't.

"Javis?"  
 _"_ _Ms Stark..."_ Jarvis says clearly confused as he thought she was asleep in the guest room.  
"Don't say anything." She hisses knowing her had to listen to her "As far as my father knows I am asleep now I need your help."

 _"_ _Yes, Miss. How may I be of assistance, watching your father work obessivily has left me with some free time you could say."_

Buffy smiles almost wishing that Jarvis was a real person, she could imagine the two of them torturing her dad together, like two Stewie Griffins, the whole situation would be hilarious.  
She shakes away the thought and focuses back on her plan "I need you to find out anything you can about someone called The Rider. He'll be associated with victims that are burnt to death or die extremely violently under weird circumstances."

* * *

After getting the intel from Jarvis, about the connection between all of Blaze's victims, Buffy tries to retrace her steps to figure out where Blaze could have gone. She knew she didn't have long till her father inevitably found a way around Jarvis to get him to admit where she was, so she needed to work fast.  
Speeding down the streets of L.A on her bike she keeps her eyes open trying to look for any sign of the mysterious rider.

As she pasts one of the race tracks she pauses, her Slayer sense was going haywire, pulling her bike to a stop opposite the building she climbs off before standing in front of the building.

She looks up at the massive building remembering when Rhodey used to take her to races as a kid, when she had been a child it had seemed so daunting, something that could crush her so easily but now after all the things she had seen, it was nothing more than a concrete building where her prey was waiting.

Leaping up the side of the building she grasps onto one of the skylight windows, smashing her fist through the glass she watches as it shatters before climbing inside.

Landing in a crouch on the ground Buffy looks up her eyes scanning the large room, there were floor length glass windows on the other side of the room that could oversee the tracks below, she sighs noticing the emptiness of the room.  
Standing carefully she silently crosses the room looking for any sign of disturbance however to her disappointment there was nothing. Maybe she had been wrong.

However suddenly a bright light appears reflecting off the glass, the blonde frowns before slowly approaching the glass, her eyes widen as below she spots Blaze skull flaming brightly as he digs his hand into the chest of one of the criminals.  
She gasps as the sight before flinching as the man's body is completely engulfed in flames.

As she turns away from the light something catches her eye, on the wall to her left was a picture of Blaze, he was smiling as he held as a trophy.  
However her eyes were drawn to the blonde women standing next to him, she had her arm wrapped around his waist and was smiling brightly at him.

"Roxanne." Buffy reads as she spots the inscription on the frame, Buffy smiles slightly she had him now "Everybody has a weakness."  
She slams her fist through the glass of the frame grabbing the photo and tucking it into her suit before moving towards the stairs to get to Blaze.

* * *

 _"_ _Sir, you really should rest."_ Jarvis tells Tony as the billionaire continues to tinker with a metal boot.  
"Nah." Tony says with a shrug before tossing the boot to the side, it wasn't right, wasn't strong enough, his next suit kept falling apart too easily and Buffy's well...she's picky on a normal day to say she's picky when it comes to her suit's was an understatement, so right now there was no way she would wear this new suit. He needed to finish it, it needed to be perfect.

Standing from his chair he grabs his cell phone off the table, pressing the keypad quickly he turns to watch as the middle of the garage slowly begins to lower itself further into the ground revealing something he had been working on since New York.

 _"_ _Sir, I must insist you do not tinker with the Legion. You need to rest."  
_ Tony rolls his eyes at the worried intelligence system before making his way down the stairs.

* * *

Buffy whistles loudly as she strolls onto the track, twirling the scythe in her palms she spots Blaze now looking human again getting onto his motorbike and speeding towards her.  
Buffy stands in a strong stance watching as he speeds towards her, her eyes widen as she spots the chain in his hands. Okay that she hadn't expected.

As he speeds forward he swings the chain towards her hoping to catch her off guard but she was too quick, Buffy raises the scythe allowing the chain to wrap around the metal.  
Using all of her strength she yanks the chain causing Blaze to lose balance, as he drops the chain Buffy runs forwards moving closer to the speeding bike which was attempting to hit her.

Just before it could hit her she leaps over the bike grabbing the back of Blaze's neck as she does yanking him off the bike.  
As Blaze rolls along the hard floor, the bike crashes into a nearby wall.

Buffy skids along the floor digging the axe of the scythe into the ground to keep her from losing control.  
After a long pause, Buffy yanks the scythe out of the ground and stands approaching Blaze "Hi." She says cheerfully as she moves the black hair out of her face to smile at him.

Blaze glares at her and stands he stretches his neck allowing Buffy to watch as the large cut on his jaw that he must have got when he had fallen heals "What do you want?"  
Her eyes widen for a split second before she focuses again "I looked into your kills." Buffy says offhandedly as she swings the scythe side to side playfully "Some of them check out."

Johnny frowns before watching the blonde curiously "How'd you do that?" He asks, it had only been an hour since they had parted the first time yet she had managed to find and examine all of his previous kills, and that was one long list.  
"I got a guy." She says with a smirk.  
Johnny chuckles slightly "Well I told you. It's just vengeance sweet cheeks. So we done here?"

Buffy scoffs in amusement "You just tried to run me over...trust me _sweet cheeks_ we are far from over." Buffy moves closer stopping short of him so they were only a few inches apart, looking up at him she frowns "What are you? I mean you're no Alien, and you're not exactly a demon."

Johnny frowns at that, not many knew about that world "What's an ity bitty girl like you do getting involved with demons."  
"I'm no little girl." Buffy tells him with a serious face "You're not a demon but your something close." She says not even really talking to him anymore more just chatting to herself "But whatever you are, you have the stench of hell. I should know more than anyone."

Blaze watches the girl in interest, she couldn't be more than early twenties, how could someone so young be aware of all of this?  
There was something off about all of this.  
The monster inside of him merely wanted to rip her to pieces and continue on his work but there was something different about this one, that same part of him that wanted her dead also saw her as a threat to its master.

"What's a guy like yourself doing getting involved with the monsters of hell." Buffy says as she points the scythe at him, causing him to back away slightly from her.  
Johnny glares at the weapon before finally settling on her face "You wanna save me? My soul, listen here princess I'm telling you I sold mine."

Buffy's eyes widen at that, she was not expecting that to be honest "To the devil. Pointy horns? Red skin? Kind of looks like Hellboy? That devil?" When his expression doesn't change and he continues to look at her seriously she lets out a surprised breath "Huh. Gotta say wasn't expecting that."  
"Well, what can I say..." Blaze tells her as he moves to pick up his bike "...he was the only one selling. Now look I'm done talking. You wanna throw down again I'm down with that. Or just try to turn me in, I dare you. I got nothin to lose."

Buffy arches a brow as she watches him move to climb on his bike, clutching the scythe in her grasp she turns to him "Really, not even the blonde...what's her name? Roxanne? She wouldn't miss you?"

At that Buffy realises her mistake as his whole face drops, he lets his bike drop back to the ground and he grabs a massive metal pole from the ground where his bike had knocked it off the ball and instantly the pole burns brightly with flames.  
"You...you really shouldn't have mentioned her."

Buffy sighs in annoyance her ribs were still killing her and she was exhausted, maybe Jarvis had been right about that whole sleep thing.  
"Doesn't have to go like this." Buffy attempts as he approaches her.  
When he doesn't stop she raises her hand shooting out a red blast at him making him topple to the ground, however just as quickly as he had dropped he gets back up more furious than before.

Buffy groans in annoyance and raises the scythe just as he swings the pole at her, blocking it from making contact, twisting the scythe she manages to get the pole out of his grasp, stepping onto his knee she leaps up and kicks him in the face before landing back on her feet. Instantly she does a spinning kick hitting him square in the chest sending him flying backwards.

Johnny growls and stands, he runs at her tackling her to the ground, Buffy struggles due to his larger size as he attempts to pin her down, groaning she wraps her left leg around his neck yanking him off her and down to the ground.

However as she attempts to stand she feels a painfully sharp object pierce her ankle, screaming out she looks down to see a knife now buried in her ankle.

Before she even had the chance to yank herself free Blaze's fist connects with her jaw causing her to drop to her stomach and then a strong pain hits her as he suddenly slams his foot into her face slamming it into the hard concrete ground.

* * *

Buffy groans as she starts to come back to a state of consciousness, blinking slightly she attempts to move only for her eyes to slam open as she feels metal wrapped around her chest restricting her.  
Buffy's eyes scan the familiar room making her frown she was back in her old apartment tied to a chair, this definitely wasn't good.

As she spots Johnny walk into the room holding one of her old boxes she attempts to free herself only to groan in pain "You'll live." Blaze tells her gesturing to the bloody state of her ankle.  
Buffy looks up and glares at him "And what? Am I supposed to say thank you for not stabbing me in a major artery. Thank you, Johnny, you're a real stand up guy." She says sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.  
"You try and bust out of that and I can't guarantee it will stay that way."

Buffy shakes her head in annoyance this guy was seriously beginning to get on her nerves.  
Johnny turns to her for a second and looks at her carefully "So what's the daughter of a billionaire doing running around with super-strength."

Buffy's eyes widen, it's then that she spots her wig lying on the ground and her glasses were on the other side of the room, she groans in annoyance before glaring at him "None of your damn business." He shrugs and continues to rifle through her things, intentionally pissing her off "Do you get a kick out of going through a girl's things? Or is this just some weird fetish cause if so I'd appreciate it if you did that with someone else's stuff."  
Johnny chuckles slightly before turning to the slayer "I'm looking for proof."  
Buffy arches a brow at that "Proof?"

As Johnny pulls out one of her fake I.D's he turns to her "Yeah, you see this is new to me, I've never been..."  
"A kidnapper?" Buffy finishes "And considering who I am I'm guessing you're in a bit of a panic." She says smirking slightly at him as she reaches for her gloves, inside one of the gloves was a small laser that could be activated with her fingerprint, if she could reach it she could break through the chains and catch him off guard.

"I've never been caught." He corrects glaring at her "You know who I am. Which is a problem for both of us. A problem that has to go away."  
Buffy tilts her head in interest "I've been dead twice, three times doesn't make a difference to me. It will make one for you though, cause, unfortunately, you know who I am. Something that's a problem for me. And you know if you kill me it's one for you as well."

Blaze smiles slightly she was right, killing her was a risk, she was practically beloved across the world. Since coming out as Stark's daughter the world had adored her. She was America's sweetheart. And the fact that her father and she were part of the Avengers would screw him royally. However something about the way in which she spoke captured his interest, she spoke of life and death as though the idea of it all was nothing more than taking a breath. Like if she died she just wouldn't care.

"You want it." He says curiously "You have a death wish. I've heard that about your kind."

Buffy frowns at that, an hour ago he had no idea what she was now he seemed to have a clue, before she could question it he grabs something out of the box and crouches down in front of her "Didn't quite catch it before but makes sense now, the strength, the speed, the holy weapon, your experience with hell. You're the Slayer. You are quite famous I'll tell you that, the other guy really wants to see what makes you tick. Kind of like he did with that Blade guy...but you see you came back after I let you leave...you told me not to...you said you deserved it. I'm just looking for proof that you do."

Buffy blinks up at him stunned by his words and the way that they affected her, she couldn't find it in herself to argue with him "And then? You know who I am, the people who will hunt you down."  
Johnny chuckles slightly "Doesn't matter. My problem goes away and soon it will be someone else's problem. I'm what you could say as...passing on the torch soon. I only have to avoid your people for so long."


	8. Chapter 8

Scotland, United Kingdom

"How we doing Selene?" Xander asks as he walks back into control central after speaking to his contact in Russia, again no sign of Amy, this was really starting to frustrate him.

Selene sighs, she had been trying to do a tracking spell but it had disrupted for the fourth time by Xander's constant destruptions. Turning to him she places her hands on her hips before giving him a small glare.

Xander winces under her gaze, realising it had done it again "Sorry." He mumbles, he knew he shouldn't keep asking she needed to focus but Amy needed to pay. No-matter-what.

* * *

Downtown L.A – Buffy's Apartment

"You could just tell me." Blaze tells Buffy as he sits on her bed rummaging through her boxes, this was taking longer than expected and he didn't know if her father was going to show up, a confrontation right now would not be the best move, he still had one last piece of vengence to complete.

Buffy rolls her eyes she was getting really sick of his damn baggering "And here people say I'm the blonde." She groans before tilting her head to look at him "Looky here possessed boy, keep looking you ain't going to find nothing."

Blaze scoffs something about the way she held herself and the nervous look in her eyes as she stared at the box in his hand made him think otherwise "I prayed for my vengence but you...from what everyone knows about you, which isn't a whole lot, you're a sweetheart, meant to take over a company...change the world...yet you're out there..." He tilts his head towards the window gesturing the dark street outside "...fighting to right every wrong all the while begging to be taken out. Seems to me like your thing is serving pennants...and I don't thinks it's for your father's history...something in your past...you want vengence for something..."

Johnny pauses as he lifts up an old high school year book, the edges were all burnt it literally looked like it had been put through the ringer, but as he flips through the pages something catches his eye.

Buffy's eyes widen for a second as he picks up her old yearbook, turning her head away she clenches her jaw swallowing the painful memories threatening to resurface.

"You know..." He says forcing her to turn back to face him "We're not so different you and me..." Water fills Buffy's eyes as he lifts the photo of her and Willow at their high school prom holding it out towards her.

Buffy's eyes soften at the photo for a moment as she remembers that photo that night had been a mess of complicated emotions but in that photo she could really see one of the few moments of happiness that had occurred.

"...You just feel bad for the dead in your wake." At his words Buffy looks away from the photo tearing her gaze away from her best friend's smiling face and glares at him hatefully "I don't feel anything."

Buffy rolls her eyes at that "Yeah sure. And I'm still alive because? Come on, you're not curious more people with access to alien weapons. One of the men you killed was using alien tech left by the battle of New York to try and mind control women. Yet you still say you're not curious about the world that we live in now?" Buffy smirks slightly as the blonde haired man glares at her "What's the point then? All your recent kills, all alien tech used. So why? Why so specific?"

"Those people spilled innocent blood." He states not going into any further detail.

Buffy rolls her eyes and adjusts her postion in the chair, her hands were getting closer to the controls on her gloves, she just needed to keep him talking.  
"Listen to Bruce Wayne...god you really take yourself way too seriously, try a massage." She smiles at him only irriatating him further, he was not enjoying her humor.

Buffy rolls her eyes "So the fact that those idiots had weapons with more tech than I have seen in a long time means nothing right. The fact that every one of your victims in the last few months all like to some weird Centipede program, that doesn't catch your attention? Someone is arming these people, uniting them, that still not tickling your fancy?"

At the word Centipede Blaze freezes, his face completely shuts down covered by a look of pure fury "What did you say?" He asks giving her his full attention.

Buffy frowns at the suddenly tense man who was glaring at her with interest "Centipede? Small program owned by some douche, runs out of a small warehouse in china town. Or at least till they started harboring Alien weapons."

Johnny stands abruptly reaching for the duck tape on the table tossing her box to the ground he moves towards her "Johnny?!" Buffy exclaims before he covers her mouth with the tape making her groan in frustration and annoyance.  
She really hated being gagged.

"What the hell?" She mumbles under the tape as he moves towards the exit "Johnny!"

As the door slams shut behind him she screams in frustration before finally she reaches the controls in her gloves, pressing her index finger into the controls the gloves release a large red burst effectively breaking through the chains.

As the chains drop to the ground Buffy rips the tape from her mouth and leaps off the chair, jumping over her bed she grabs her glasses and the scythe not bothering with the wig as she runs after Blaze.

Running outside the building she spots Blaze climing onto his bike, Buffy groans as he speeds off, running after him she sighs "I hope this works." She mumbles before shooting two bursts of energy out of her gloves towards the ground. The move had the desired effect as her body goes flying through the air and she lands on the back of his bike.  
"Blaze stop!" She orders as she digs the scythe into the back of the bike trying to keep herself on the bike as he spins violently trying to get her off.

"No!" He screams violently, Buffy's eyes widen as she feels flames hit the backwheels, she looks down causing her to lose her grip slightly so as Blaze does another violent turn she goes flying off the vechile and crashing to the ground.

Buffy rolls across the ground several times before coming to a stop. Groaning in pain she looks up only to see the bike gone "Dammit!"

* * *

"What do you mean she isn't dead?!" The devil woman exclaims as she sends a table flying across the room crashing through the window.

Marcus sighs, he had been woken up to her strolling into his office apartment, turning towards the clock he sighs it was barely 3.30 in the morning, but he wasn't going to complain, this woman was scary enough.

The devil glares at him as an evil snarl fills her face "I specifically said I wanted the other Slayer dead. I drained every younce of strength and power from the others for a reason. I do not need two Slayers running around."

Marcus sighs, going after Ms. Lehane had not gone as expected, the majority of his men had died and now the Slayer was in a coma, she had put up a hell of a fight bringing down an entire building on half of his guard.  
"We don't have the man power we did before the fall. We didn't expect her—"  
"What?!" She hisses as her eyes darken, she steps forward and wraps a hand around his neck yanking him off his feet and slamming him through the glass windows of his office causing him to land painfully in the middle of the main floor.

Practically flying towards him she crouches down in front of him "I don't take excuses and neither does my master."

When a guard enters the room at that moment to check on all the commotion Marcus sighs that was not going to end well.  
The devil woman's eyes were burning like fire she stands and releases a black and red mist from her arm, the mist surrounds the room before attacking the guard.

It spins wildly around the guard blocking him from view, the only sounds filling the room are his blood-curdling cries of agony.  
When the mist returns to the woman the guard was gone leaving nothing but a bloody skeleton in its wake.

"Do not dissapointment me again." She says as she turns her attention back to Marcus "Make sure Aldrich keeps the Stark family distracted, kill them if you have to. I want nothing in my way. You and your company have very little purpose and I will not hesitate to bury you if you fail to take down those two."

She moves away from Marcus, the train of her black dress following her as she exits the room, as she slams the door open she spots three more guards and smirks, raising a hand as she walks past them the black and red mist escpes from her fingers circling the three men and snapping their neck instantly.

As their bodies fall to the ground, she looks over at Marcus who was still crouches on the floor in the other room "Consider that a warning."

* * *

"Dr, is it ready?" A young man with long dark hair asks as a young female doctor walks into the room.

Debbie walks into the room and moves towards the knives set up on the table before turning to her test subject, she looks at him carefully before flipping through her case file ignoring the page about her upcoming test subjects Mike Perterson and Johnathon Myers.  
This was her second test subject and she was hoping that the treatment would go better than last time.

Grabbing the yellow serum off the table she moves towards Andrew, raising his shirt she adjusts the metal device on his arm and injects the serum inside, before moving to take a seat she watches as the serum spreads through his body.

As she takes notes four men storm into her office holding the alien weapons she had altered for them "Doc." One of them says.  
Debbie sighs and motions to her patient to releax before leading the men into another room "What are you doing here?" She hisses, they were not supposed to be on the property unless given specific orders.

"It came after us again!" One of the men yells as he grabs her arm "You assured us these things were untraceable."

She yanks her arm free and glares up at him "They are!" She turns her head towards the large glass prison they were standing next to where their prisioner was proceeding to pace "Not here."

Before anyone else could say anything a blonde man strolls into the room with a look of murder in his eyes.

* * *

Buffy runs into the abandoned warehouse she had tracked Johnny to, grabbing the scythe off her back she freezes as she hears screaming coming from down the hall.  
Running forward she pauses as she spots a famaliar face trapped inside a glass container "Spike?" Buffy asks completely frozen to her space.

Spike stops pacing inside his cell and turns to the blonde woman, his eyes widen as he spots the woman he thought he would never see again "Buffy." He breaths out.

Buffy's hand shakes at the shock of seeing him however her attention quickly snaps away from her ex as she spots a young female doctor run out of the room while Johnny pinned one of the men attacking him to the wall.

Buffy groans, she could leave him right now but something in her told her to help him, sighing she grabs the back of the head of one of the men and slams his head onto her knee before tossing him face first into the wall.  
She leaps up and spins kicking the next one in the gut before elbowing him in the face, she leaps up wrapping her legs around his neck and twists forcing him to the ground.

Buffy turns just in time to see Johnny growl in anger before the flesh on his face melts away leaving only a burning skull in its place.  
Instead of moving to help the man Buffy finds herself frozen to her place as the man Johnny was holding goes up in flames before leaving nothing but a burnt corpse.

As Buffy remains frozen Johnny turns to her before moving past her grabbing the file off the desk as he does.  
Buffy gulps for a second before turning back to Spike who was watching her stunned.


	9. Chapter 9

Tony clicks his neck before cleaning the oil off of his hands as he makes his way out of the Legion room and back into the garage.  
Walking over to his desk he picks up the sketch on the desk of Buffy's new suit and smiles, maybe getting her involved with this may take her mind off everything for a while. And keep her from talking from spangled pants Rogers.

Tony groans at the idea of Steve and Buffy continuing to stay in contact why couldn't she just agree to the idea of being a nun.  
Sighing he turns to the computer "Jar is Buffy awake?"  
When Jarvis doesn't answer Tony frowns, grabbing the computer he types in only to find Jarvis doing some form of web search.  
"Jarvis, what the hell are you doing?"  
 _"_ _Just some research that Miss. Stark asked me to find."_

Tony frowns at that "Jar what did she ask you to research?"  
 _"_ _I'm afraid that information is classified sir and not available to you."  
_ Tony scoffs and moves to attempt to hack into the file only to find himself surly disappointed; damn that girl really was his kid.  
"Wake her up please Jarvis."  
 _"_ _I'm afraid I cannot do that sir."_

Tony's groans in annoyance he may love that girl but she was a pain in his existence sometimes "Why not?" He asks as he stands and moves towards the exit of the garage. If Jarvis wouldn't wake her he would, to hell with the wrath of Pepper Potts.  
 _"_ _...I'm not permitted to say. Miss Stark made a request I intend to keep."  
_ Tony huffs the two of them teaming up was not something that he expected when Buffy had moved back in when she was 17.

Tony moves towards the touchpad on the wall and attempts to flip through the security footage when something catches his eyes. The footage of Pepper and Buffy was on a damn loop "Buffy!"

* * *

"What are you doing here, Spike?" Buffy asks annoyed as she crosses her arms glaring at him slightly, she was still pissed about the whole having to hear from Andrew that Spike was alive in L.A. thing.  
"Look, pet..." Spike says hesitantly as he moves to approach her, she may have let him out of his cell but he could tell that she had been tempted to keep him locked in there.  
"Don't pet me Spike." Buffy hisses before pacing, she was frustrated she needed to get to Blaze not to be dealing with Spike "I don't want to hear it. You're alive fine. I'm over that you lied to me. But what were you doing here?"  
Spike sighs "Been here since that incident in New York. Kept me locked up take some blood kind of like the Initiative. That's all I know."

Buffy sighs, clearly these people wanted vampire blood for whatever reason she had no idea, maybe it was the strength or the immortality but it had to be something. Sighing she groans and looks down in the direction Johnny had speed off in, he clearly knew what was going on, he knew who these people were and had some form of vendetta against them.

"Look..." She says softly "...I'm not a mad at you, but I need to go." Buffy moves to leave but Spike grasps her wrist holding it to keep her from running off "Buffy, wait..."  
"Spike, it's almost sunrise now. And...I can't do this. My life is not the same as it was. I'm not the same."  
Spike chuckles in annoyance this was not how he expected them to reconnect, him being a prisoner and her fresh off of grief of losing her best friend and now a superhero.

"Life just keeps going on." He says softly before cupping her cheek, stepping forward he kisses her forehead "Goodbye, Slayer."

* * *

After failing to be able to track down Johnny again Buffy sighs, changing into civilian clothing back at her apartment she stuffs her suit in a duffle bag before moving towards the door.

As she exits the building and heads towards her bike she sighs, the sun was coming up soon and by now her dad would either be about to realise she wasn't at the house or Pepper was.  
She had a very small window of opportunity to get home before they both realised she was gone.  
Swinging her leg around the bike she moves to start it only for the bike to backfire "Dammit!" Buffy exclaims.  
Climbing off the bike she groans this wasn't good, she was miles away from home and her bike was crashed.

However before she could panic another bike pulls up next to her, Buffy spins around only to freeze as she finds Johnny Blaze smirking at her, she had to admit he was attractive he kind of looked like that kid from that Stripper movie Faith had made her watch "Your friend with you?"  
Buffy frowns "No, he's gone."  
"Good. You wanna know what's connecting centipede and the weapons?"

"Yeah." Buffy says hesitantly as she watches him for a moment waiting to see what his next move was.  
"It's a long ride to Malibu, get on." He says before tossing her a helmet.

* * *

"We found her." Selene tells Xander as she rushes into his room where he was currently passed out on his desk.  
Xander gasps in shock and shoots up quickly wiping the drool from his face as he does, he quickly turns to her a seriously look on his face "Where is she?"  
Selena scoffs still in disbelief at where Amy had decided to hide herself away "She's in Malibu."

* * *

"Wait so Roxanne, the girlfriend in a coma, was put there by centipede?" Buffy asks as Johnny continues to drive through the streets of L.A.  
"She was a reporter at the New York Bulletin, her and Ben Urich were working on a piece about the battle of New York when she caught wind of Centipede."  
Buffy frowns in confusion, she remembered reading that piece in the Bulletin when it came out, she had even donated some of her trust fund to Hell's kitchen, after hearing about the amount of damage.

"Centipede were using alien tech for some experiments and weapons..." Johnny continues before a sadness fills his voice "...she went in undercover but...they caught her. She almost died. Been tracking them down one by one every since."  
Buffy sighs maybe she had been wrong about him, yes she didn't agree with his methods but he was doing everything he was for a reason.  
"Why are you telling me this?" She asks genuinely curious as to why he was letting her in on this now.

"Because your Buffy Anne Summers Stark...you have access I could never even dream about." He says as he makes a hard right, they were getting closer to Malibu and they didn't have long before she would be home "You have access to Shield, Stark Industries and God knows what else."  
Buffy scoffs "You want my help to figure out what Centipede is up to...who's in charge."

"Yes and preferably soon." He says quietly, he could feel it, the demon in him was getting ready to find another to continue it's vengeance, but either way with or without the power he would find these people.

"Fine." Buffy agrees against her better judgement as they pull up by the beach house, climbing off the bike she pulls off her hemet and tosses it towards him.  
"These people are dangerous, I'll find out all the information I can but let me make one thing clear..." She says as she steps closer to him looking up at him "No innocent people die."  
"I only kills those that deserve it."  
Buffy sighs she didn't want to do this but these people were dangerous and now due to her public figure status she couldn't be caught out asking questions he was the best chance to take these people down.  
Handing him a burner phone she turns towards her front door "I'll call you when I have something."  
Buffy hears him chuckle as he climbs back onto his bike "Goodbye Miss Stark."  
"I prefer Summers." She says as she turns back to him watching as he speeds out of her driveway.

Buffy watches him for a moment before reaching for her phone as soon as the person answers the phone she speaks "Dawn, I need a favour, your witch friend I need her to keep an eye on one Johnny Blaze for me. He says he only kills those who deserve it, makes sure that's true."  
When her sister agrees Buffy hangs up the phone and quietly sneaks into the house.

"Stop right there!"  
Buffy freezes groaning internally before turning to face a furious Tony and plastering a sweet nervous smile on her face "Hi Daddy."

* * *

"What the hell Buffy!" Tony exclaims as he follows her into the living room, continuing his yelling spree as he does.  
Buffy rolls her eyes "I'm fine seriously."  
Tony arches a brow at her "You're a pain in the ass."  
Buffy chuckles in amusement "Back at you pops."

Tony sighs he had been worried about her, she had taken off at God knows what hour and had been doing god knows what.  
Buffy sighs as she spots the worried look on her dad's face "I'm sorry." She says taking a deep breath "I just...I can't just stand still...every time I close my eyes I see it...the portal..."

Tony's eyes widen as he spots the emotion quickly rushing to her face, hitting her like a truck "Buff..." He says softly before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her as she lets the emotion consume her.  
 _"_ _Miss, Sir..."_ Jarvis' voice says cutting through the silence of the room capturing the father and daughter's attention and effectively destroying their moment together.

The two turn to face the television, only to be faced with an image of the Mandarin.

 _"_ _But this season of terror is drawing to a close. And don't worry, the big one is coming. You're graduation."_

Buffy's eyes widen as her and Tony stare at the TV, watching in horror as the Mandarin confesses to destroying yet another building in L.A.  
"What are we gonna do?" Buffy asks as she watches the screen in horror, however before either of them could come up with a plan the phone starts ringing.  
Tony groans in annoyance before grabbing it, as he answers the phone his face falls.  
"What is it?" Buffy asks with a worried frown.  
"It's Happy."


	10. Chapter 10

Buffy sits next to her father in one of the hospital chairs in Happy's room. She glances over at the bodyguard who had become like family to her, with a sad sigh she leans her head against the wall and takes a sharp breath as she watches the machines surrounding the room help Happy breathe.

"Could you leave that on?" Tony asks the nurse who hadn't noticed that either of them were there as she went to turn off the TV.  
The nurse smiles at the two of them before nodding "Sure."

Tony stands walking over to the TV "Sunday nights. PBS. Downton Abbey."  
Buffy smiles "He watches it religiously." Buffy tells the nurse "He once had a go at the two of us when we deleted it off the watch list."  
The nurse chuckles smiling at the young blonde woman before turning back to Tony "One more thing." He tells her "Make sure everyone wears their badges. He's a stickler for that sort of thing. Plus my guys won't let anyone in without them and she..." He says gesturing to Buffy "Will go all batman on them."  
"It's true." Buffy mumbles before she stands and her and her father head out towards the exit.

* * *

As they approach the exit of the hospital Buffy freezes, hundreds of members of the press were outside calling out for the Stark duo.  
"Buff?" Tony asks turning to her with a worried frown, he sighs before wrapping an arm around her shoulder allowing her to hide her head against him as he pushes through the press trying to leading her towards the car trying to get past the press.

"Miss. Stark. Mr Stark?" The press call as they try to get the duo's attention, however just as they approach the car a member of the press comes up behind them with a phone "When is somebody gonna kill this guy?"  
Buffy spots her father's eyes glaze over in anger, she groans before pushing him into the car and turning to the man, all sense of control had gone, she was angry, angry about what The Mandarin had done to Happy she wanted him to suffer but right now she wanted to get this idiot out of her sight.

"Buffy, don't!" Tony exclaims but she slams the door shut and taps the car letting the driver know to go.

Buffy glares at the reporter and before she could even think about what she was doing she punched him in the face knocking him out cold "That's what I have to say to The Mandarin."

Suddenly the press surround her asking for a quote however Buffy's eyes widen as what she had just done hits her and members of the press moves to the side and two cops grab Buffy's arms.  
"Hey what the hell are you doing?!"  
"Buffy." Tony hisses from the car as Tony had prominently kicked the driver out when he had attempted to go, "Get your hands off my daughter!" Tony hisses to the cops who merely put the handcuffs on her wrist.

"Buffy Anne Summers Stark, you are arrested for assault."  
"What?!" Buffy exclaims before looking back at her father as she is dragged off towards the police car.

* * *

"Tony stop!" Pepper orders as she storms into the garage where she spotted Tony currently in one of his suits prepared to fly out.  
Tony turns to face her before turning on the boosters and preparing to fly out and get his daughter out of jail "Tony!" Pepper exclaims as she approaches "You fly over there and it will get her in more trouble."

Tony groans in annoyance before raising his mask so he could look Pepper in the eye "She is in jail! My daughter was arrested for hitting someone who damn well deserved it!" Tony sighs he was panicking she had never been in trouble before not that the press knew about anyway, "She's not doing good Pepper. Willow's death has been hard on her she's struggling to keep it together."

Pepper sighs sadly and approaches her boyfriend placing a calming hand on his cheek "I know I'm worried too. Look I talked to a lawyer and the press, I explained that Buffy is in mourning over a friend and that this event and attack set her off like it would any girl her age."

When she spots Tony about to argue she shakes her head knowing that he was going to suggest to hell with all of it and that they should just go down there and burn the police station to the ground for arresting her.  
"I'm going to go pick her up, you—stay." She orders before moving towards the staircase  
"But—"  
"Stay!" She hisses once more leaving no room for discussion.

* * *

Buffy paces in her cell for what felt like the 50th time before glaring at the clock, she had been here too long, Happy was hurt, her father was likely going to show up and blast the place to pieces, she needed out of here.  
She stares at the bars for a moment and contemplates bending them only to sigh as she spots the security camera, probably not the best idea she though to herself.

Buffy pauses as she hears voices coming down the hall, her eyes widen as she spots a cop as well as Xander and Selene standing opposite her cell.  
The police officer turns to Buffy "I'm sorry for all this Miss. Stark." The police officer says as he opens up her cell "I'm sorry for your loss. You're free to go."

Buffy frowns in confusion it was like he was possessed or something, however, as she turns to face Xander and the witch she spots the smirk on Selene's face. Buffy shakes her head in amusement before turning to Xander.  
She breathes out a sigh of relief as a bright smile fills her face before running forward and hugging him tightly trying not to cut off his circulation.

Xander hugs her back instantly lifting her off the ground and spinning her around happily.  
He had missed her so much, she was all he had now that Willow was gone, she was his best friend, his sister and he wished that their reunion had been under different circumstances.

When Xander finally lowers her Buffy smiles up at him "Not that I don't appreciate the jail break but what are you doing here?"  
Xander smiles at her for a moment before a serious look covers his face "I found Amy."

* * *

In order to keep himself distracted and to keep from flying down to the police station Tony focused on finding out as much about the Mandarin as he could.

Turning to the holograms on the wall he sighs as Jarvis pulls up all the files they had discovered "I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir, drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D, FBI, The Watcher's Council and CIA intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction."

Tony turns in his chair as holograms of the scene where Happy had been attacked fill the entire room practically placing Tony in the middle of the incident.  
"Okay." He says as he stands from his chair and moves to exam everything "What have we got here?"

Moving over to one set of files he pauses "The name is an ancient Chinese war mantle meaning 'advisor to the kind' South American insurgency tactics. Talks about a Baptist preacher."

* * *

Pepper's heels click along the floor of the police station as she heads straight to the front desk.  
Looking around she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable, it had been a long time since she had stepped foot in here and the last time was before she and the world knew about Buffy, when Tony had been arrested for public intoxication.

Sighing at the memory she realised how glad she was that Buffy had come back into his life on a permanent bases, that girl really was the best thing for him.  
Walking over to the desk she smiles at the young policeman there "Yes, Hello I'm here to collect Buffy Anne Summers Stark."

The man nods before typing something into the computer, however after a moment he frowns in confusion "Sorry, Miss but Summers was released an hour ago into a...Mr Xander Harris' custody."

Pepper's eyes widen, this wasn't good, she quickly thanks the police officer before heading outside "Oh Xander what have you gotten yourself into?" She asks herself as she dials Buffy's cell only for it to go straight to voicemail. She groans and tosses her phone back into her purse before climbing into the driver's seat of her car. Closing her eyes she leaned her head against the leather seat, Tony was not going to be happy.

* * *

"Faith's in a coma?" Buffy asks stunned as her Xander and Selene walks towards the portal that Selene had prepared for them to use so they could go after Amy.  
Xander nods, he was still in shock about it as well "De-ja-vu."  
Buffy raises her hands in defence "It wasn't me this time."

Xander smiles slightly, before shaking his head "She was attached by a hoard of demons while meeting her parol officer." He tells her before sighing as he remembers back to when Faith had first been in a coma, as bad as that situation had been it had been a simpler time, high school, big bad it all made sense, now...with Willow gone and Buffy always working either her day or night job, it just wasn't the same.

"The portal is just around here." Selene tells them suddenly drawing their attention, the two look over to in the corner of the graveyard where a large pinning circle with what appeared to be an imagine of an apartment building in Malibu was.  
Buffy groans "Seriously? She's hiding in Malibu, does she have a death wish?"  
Selena chuckles slightly "Some do belief that hiding in plain sight is the most effective."

Buffy shakes her head but continues towards the spinning portal, as she steps through the portal she just couldn't stop remembering it, couldn't stop picturing that moment, the moment that had led to this, led to them hunting down the woman responsible.

"What do we do?" Buffy points out as they step out of the portal and begin walking towards the apartment building "Once we find her."  
Selene glances over at the blonde for a moment "I can place a binding spell—"  
"No." Xander says harshly as he cuts the women off "When we find her, we kill her."

* * *

Tony glances at the holograms in front of him once again, something was off, he knew there was something he was missing but he just couldn't spot it. Climbing up the stairs so that he can get a better few of the layout an idea pops into his head "Bring up the theromenic signatures again. Factor in 3,000 degrees."

 _"_ _The Oracle cloud has a completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last 12 months of thermogenic occurrences now."_ Jarvis tells his creator as more holographic screens begin to appear in the room.

Tony watches as the heat signatures appear on the map for a moment before nodding "Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack."

Slowly several of the signatures disappear leaving only a few left in the layout ' _San Rafael, California'_ Tony reads the first card only to frown that wasn't right he glances at the next one but again it wasn't what he was looking for. However as his eyes fall on the final one _Rose Hill, Tennessee_ he frowns "That. Are you sure that's not one of his?"  
 _"_ _It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide."_

* * *

"Xander." Buffy tries as they step up to the apartment door however he clearly ignores her and kicks the door down only for a blast of green energy to come flying out of the door, sending all three of them tumbling down the stairs.

Buffy groans as her head smashes onto the concrete floor at the bottom of the staircase, she turns on her side blinking slightly due to her blurred vision.  
Shaking her head she glances around and spots Xander and Selene lying unconscious beside her "Xander?" Buffy lets out a heartbroken gasp as she shakes her best friend's shoulder in a panic, there was blood seeping down his forehead, she couldn't do this, she couldn't lose him too, "Xander!" She yells as she shakes him once more before sighing in relief as he lets out a long breath.

Gasping slightly she runs her hands through her hair, he was okay, still unconscious but alive.  
Quickly glancing over at Selene and checking her pulse Buffy stands, they were both alive but there was one other person who was alive who really deserved to have her ass beat down.

Making her way up the stairs Buffy pauses as she comes to stand outside the door that had sent them all flying down the stairs.

"Hello Buffy." A soft voice says from inside, Buffy's eyes widen as standing there her hands glowing green, her eyes full of fury was Amy.  
"Crazy Amy." She says as she grabs the knife from her boot, cursing herself for not picking up the scythe before they came here.  
"I'm not crazy!" She suddenly screams before throwing her arms out towards Buffy causing the blonde to go flying up onto the ceiling before crashing onto the ground by Amy's feet.

Buffy groans slightly but pushes herself back up, before Amy could stop her Buffy punches her in the face sending her flying across the room "You are the reason my best friend is dead!" Buffy screams "You're lucky all I did was call you crazy!"  
Buffy moves forward and grabs Amy by the neck yanking her off her feet "You helped them!" The blonde screams as she walks backwards tills Amy's back crashes against the back wall. Buffy slams her head forcefully against the wall again causing the witch to cry out in agony.

Buffy knew she should stop but she couldn't, all she could feel was rage and it was consuming her "You helped them! If you hadn't lowered that shield she would still be here!"  
"She deserved what she got." Amy says with a laugh "She never had to work at being a witch it was just so easy for her...guess it's me who's the stronger witch now."

Buffy's eyes glaze over and she punches Amy in the face before tossing her though a wall.  
Buffy now overwhelm with anger makes a move towards the witch however suddenly Amy was now floating above the ground a green glow surrounding her as her hair flew widely around her.  
"Bored now." She says with a smirk on her face before raising her hands towards Buffy, immediately a large burst of green energy leaves Amy's hands and hits Buffy in the stomach before she even had a chance to react.

Buffy groans as her body connects with the wall before she crashes to the ground, turning on her side she attempts to reach for her knife only to suddenly find her hand pinned to the wall.  
"What..." She breaths only to realise that it was Amy as she stops the witch moving towards her.

"So this is her, the Slayer, the superhero, the Avenger, nothing more than another dumb blonde."

Buffy glares at her but then spots the chandelier above her head smirking the blonde turns to her "I'm a Stark." She hisses before grabbing the knife with her other hand and launching it up at the rope holding up the chandelier.

As it crashes to the ground Amy leaps out of the way, losing her hold on Buffy who quickly stands only to have what felt like a hand wrapped around her throat cutting off her oxygen.  
Buffy claws at her neck and glances over at Amy who was smirking as she held out her hand towards Buffy, she was strangling her from there, trying to kill her slowly.

"I get it your top Jedi, do you have to over react about everything?"

Amy merely growls and tightens the magic around Buffy's neck, Buffy groans and as her vision begins to blur a bright light appears in front of her, slowly the light takes form "Willow?" Buffy asks.

Suddenly there was a loud noise and suddenly Buffy gasps as air fills her lungs, collapsing on the ground, she coughs violently as she tries to gain her breath.

Taking a deep breath she rubs her sour neck however as she does something wet on her hand draws her attention, her eyes widen as she slowly brings her hand back into view. Covering and dripping from her hand was red, warm blood, her eyes widen in horror and she turns her head, her eyes following the trail of the blood which was leading to a body. Amy's body.

Buffy gasps in shock as she spots the bullet hole now imbedded in Amy's skull, looking up Buffy spots the shooter standing there over her body, smoke still coming off his gun. Xander.

"You killed her."

* * *

"Dammit." Pepper mutters as she hangs up her phone in her office before she turns to the window glancing out at the city below, the press was still piled up outside trying to get a comment about Buffy's arrest.

Pepper sighs she had come back to the office hoping to find someway to track where Xander had taken Buffy, but there had been nothing, hell she had even called up Giles asking but the brit had no idea where he would have taken her.  
She runs a hand through her red hair, she didn't have the time or patience for this, from Tony's obsession over the Mandarin to Buffy's violent tendencies it was starting to make her crazy.

She groans and sits down in her chair trying to calm herself, she was so worried about Buffy right now, the girl was suffering so much and it killed her that there wasn't anything she could do to help her.

* * *

The devil woman kneels in front of the large statue, placing her hand in the bowl of blood next to her she raises her hand next to the statue letting the human blood drip down her hand, slowly she raises her other hand closing her eyes she allows the red mist to seep from her hand before surrounded the hand covered in blood.  
 _"_ _Revelare."_ She chants softly.

Slowly the room spins around her before finally it slows leaving her now in a new world.  
Standing slowly she looks around she was in space once again, standing on the rock where she had been made.

"You are not supposed to be here." The Other hisses as he slithers towards her, when she glares at him her eyes flashing black for a moment he cowers away before crouching in front of her "Ma'am, master told you what needs to be done, you were not suppsed to return..."

"I'm a not Loki!" The devil hisses her eyes darken and red mist begins to seep from her eyes "You listen to me you little imp, I am doing what needs to be done. The Slayer is distracted for now. We have months before that idiot scientist woman will find the original location of the either, but I have a plan to deal with her. But for now I have a problem."  
When she glares at him again The Other bows towards her before nodding "Thanos will come soon."

* * *

"She's dead." Buffy breaths out as she stands over Amy's body in shock, yes Xander had said she deserved to die, but that had never been their way, they had never killed, they had always found a way. But now...he had shot her, he had crossed that line. He had killed a human being.

Xander who was still in shock stares down at the body of the witch that he had killed, he had expected to feel some wave of guilt for it but there was nothing, he just merely continued to stare at her lifeless body like a statue.  
Slowly he tucks his gun back into his jeans and turns to the girls "Selene get rid of her."

Selene who was still in shock nods before waving a hand causing Amy's body to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Buffy stares over at her best friend still stunned, none of them spoke they all merely stood there is silence before finally Selene turns to Xander "We should be getting back, the other witches will want to do a binding spell on Amy's body to make sure she cannot be resurrected by magical means." Selene then turns to Buffy "Buffy may I speak to you for a moment."

Buffy glances over at Xander who was still staring at the wall with a hard gaze, with a reluctant nod the blonde follows Selene out of the room.

Once they were out of ear shot Selene turns to Buffy "I will keep an eye on him." She assures the Slayer, it was clear that what he had done wasn't effecting him now, but soon the reality that he had taken a human life would hit him.  
"Thank you." Buffy tells her quietly.

The blonde moves to head back inside but Selene makes her pause "The Ghost Rider." She says stunning Buffy to silence "You asked one of my witches to look into him "He does only kill those that the rider decides do not deserve to live. People who...people who deserve it." She informs Buffy before sighing "I am going to take Xander back to England but Buffy that weapon, the scythe, it burnt the rider because it is a holy weapon. It will burn anything that has been touched by hell, it will be the key to the upcoming war."

"War?" Buffy asks stunned "What war?"  
Selene shakes her head, she couldn't tell her, she barely knew about it herself, all she knew was that forces were preparing "We should go." She says changing the subject.  
Before Buffy could do anything Selene disappears from her eyes, Buffy's eyes widen and she quickly runs back into the room only to spot Xander and the blood that had been left by Amy's body gone.  
Buffy takes a shaky breath and clenches her eyes shut trying to get the image of Amy's lifeless body next to her out of her head.

Grabbing her phone she sighs before dialling 2 on her speed dial "Pepper?"


	11. Chapter 11

Tony stares at the files Jarvis was showing him for another moment as his mind slowly starts to morph a plan "Ever been to Tennessee, Jarvis?"  
 _"_ _Creating a flight plan for Tennessee."_

As Jarvis does that Tony moves to sit properly on the metal box before waving his arms causing all the holograms to disappear.  
Sighing he turns to one of the other screens "What's that?" He asks spotting an image of a burning skull painted on the side of a building in LA.

 _"_ _Not for you sir."_

Tony groans in annoyance, Jarvis was still protecting Buffy's little research project, at the thought of his daughter Tony frowns Pepper should have been back with her already.

As if the red head could sense his thoughts his phone started ringing, chuckling he jumps down and grabs his phone "Just thinking about you."  
 _"_ _Tony..."_ Pepper says quickly, he could hear a car engine in the background _"...I just got a call from Buffy picking her up now."_

Tony's face falls at that, Pepper had left hours ago to pick Buffy up from the police station, they should have been back by now, why was she only going to get her now "Wait what? You were supposed to pick her up a hours ago." When Pepper doesn't say anything Tony feels his panic rising "Pepper? Pepper!"

Pepper sighs _"Xander took her out of jail. I don't know why."_

Tony's eyes glaze over, he really didn't like that Nick Fury eyepatch wearing wannabee "I'm gonna kill that Fury rip off dumbass friend of hers!"

* * *

Buffy waits on the corner of the street Pepper had told her to meet her at, as she waits she stares at the people walking by, pulling her hood further over her head to make sure no one recognised her Buffy leans against the wall of a nearby building and sighs. She was still shocked to her core over what had happened, it had been like watching Faith kill the DA's assistant in Sunnydale all over again, expect this time it was Xander that had killed someone.  
Pure, kind, funnyman Xander had shot someone point blank in the head without a second thought, yes he had done it to save her, but a part of her wondered if he would have done it either way.

Running a shaky hand through her hair she pauses, her hands were trembling yet it was a sunny day.  
It was all too much, too much death and pain, doing this everyday, every moment it was becoming too hard and she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

Buffy was stirred from her deep thoughts as she spots Pepper's car pulling up next to her.  
Quickly the red head climbs out of the car and the moment she spots Buffy she steps forward and hugs her tightly "Buffy, are you okay?" She asks desperately, she had been so worried about her.

Buffy nods however as she does Pepper spots the blood on her skirt underneath her jumper, she frowns in worry, Buffy was trembling and it looked like she had been crying, there was brusing around her neck and she had a large cut right above her left eyebrow "Oh God." Pepper breaths before leading Buffy towards the car.

As Buffy climbs into the car she glances over at Pepper "Where's Dad?"  
Pepper sighs before running a hand through her hair, damage control with the Starks was so exhausting "I sent him home, he was halfway in his suit to blow up the police station when I got home."

* * *

"Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!" Tony exclaims as he paces around his garage, he glances over at his suit for another moment before shaking his head, it was taking everything in him right now not to jump into his suit and fly around the city till he found his daughter.  
First she was arrested then Xander takes her out of her jail cell, she had been missing for hours and he hadn't even known.

Groaning in frustration he sighs, this day had really not gone as planned, grabbing his phone he dials Pepper's number again only for it to go straight to voicemail.

Tossing the phone across the room he leans his head against the wall slamming it repeatedly against the concrete, his daughter had been out there in her condition all night again. Her condition was worsening and he could see it, everytime she looked at him he could see it and it killed him.

Suddenly one of the computer screens begins buzzing, Tony frowns and swings around only to frown as he spots an unfamiliar car pulling up into his driveway "Are we still at Ding-Dong? We are supposed to be on total security lockdown." He hisses as he slams his hands on the wall beside him before groaning, this was not the time for this, he was stressed enough as it was already "Come on." He exhales in frustration "My daughter just hit a man on live TV before getting arrested."

Tony's eyes widen as he spots the helocopters surrounding his home, sighing he moves towards the staircase, he really needed to get a better secutrity system.

 _"_ _Sir, there is only so much I can do when your daughter attacks a man and threatens a terrorist. Social media is everywhere and when members of the press follows you home all the time, I cannot exactly stop them from learning the location your home."_

Tony rolls his eyes at Jarvis's reasoning and continues upstairs, pressing on the keys of his remote control he calls the Mark 42 towards him. As it takes form around his body, pieces flying at him as he continues to make his way up the stairs, he pauses as he spots a brunette woman standing in his doorway.

Holding out his arm he stops her from moving any more "Hold it right there." He tells her before lowering his mask, as he gets a proper look at her face he frowns, he had honestly been expecting either the press or the Mandarin rather than a cute girl.  
"You're not the Mandarin. Are you?"

The brunette smiles before shaking her head in amusement "You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?"

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Pepper yells as she drives the car through the streets of Malibu "You could have been killed! You shouldn't have left jail." Pepper pauses "Do not go back to jail however, the press will have a field day."

Buffy winces slightly, she had only just finished telling Pepper what had happened and the red head had exploded, honestly Pepper was scarier than Glory most of the time.

Sighing the blonde leans her head against the Italian leather car seat before glancing out of the window, so much had happened over the past 72 hours, from meeting Johnny, and finding out that an organisation called Centipede was using Alien tech and testing vampires, to Happy ending up in the hospital, as well as herself ending up in jail before Xander killing Amy, it was all just so much.  
So much information and thoughts were running through her head, all trying to consume her.

"Buffy?" Pepper tries as she spots the blonde staring out of the window, an empty look in her eyes.  
When she doesn't respond Pepper sighs before focusing on the road in front of her, she hadn't meant to explode at her, but she had been so worried and Buffy's lack of worry for her own safety upset her.  
Sighing she doesn't say anything else she merely leans one of her hands over and squeezes Buffy's hand.

Buffy takes a deep breath and clutches onto Pepper's hand as she clenches her eyes shut refusing to let her emotions overflow her.

Slowly she turns to the red head who had become like a mother to her and smiles gratefully, Pepper was one of the few people in this world that she trusted implicitly and she couldn't have been more grateful for her in this moment. She wasn't pushing her, she was merely letting her know that she wasn't going to leave.

Pepper smiles at the young girl however just as the beach house comes into view a large black truck speeds towards Buffy's side of the car, going through the red light.  
"Pepper watch out!"

Buffy screams as the truck connects with the side of the car causing it to spin wildly before flipping over sending her to darkness.

* * *

Pepper groans in agony as the car finally skids across the road before finally pausing near the top of the cliff. She gasps as she feels blood dripping down her face and her legs, looking up she lets out a horrified gasp as she spots the blood on her leg however quickly she realises that he wasn't actually her blood.

Looking over she spots Buffy who had gotten the largest force of the hit, she gasps again as her eyes fill with water, Buffy's arm was pointing out in an awkward position, it was clearly broken. The cut that had been above her eyebrow had been cut deeper and blood was now covering majority of her face, her hair was dosed in so much blood that it was hard to tell where it was all coming from.

"Buffy?" Pepper calls as she attempts to reach for the blonde girl, when she doesn't stir Pepper panics "Buffy! No...sweetie come on Buffy! Wake up!"  
Pepper cries slightly but takes a relieved breath as she spots Buffy's chest rising and falling, she was breathing, for now at least.

Groaning again Pepper reaches for her seat belt but finds herself unable to unlock it, it was too tight and one of her arms was burning with pain, it was possible fractured and was making it impossible for her to reach the release.

She glances around the car, it being more difficult due to the car being upside down on the road, as she does she spots Buffy's knife just below her seat. Sighing in relief that it was in reach she attempts to get it only for suddenly the sound of ripping metal to draw her attention.

Turning her head back to the 23-year-old girl Pepper's eyes widen as suddenly the car door on Buffy's side goes flying, and now standing there were three men in black masks and black jackets with a familiar mark on it. The Mark of the Mandarin.

"No!" Pepper yells as she spots the men ripping Buffy from her chair, Pepper struggles desperately as she tries to get to the girl "No! Buffy! Buffy! No—No—No!"

Pepper pulls at her seat belt trying to get away from her seat but she was forced to watch helplessly as Buffy was dragged across the floor towards the black van.  
Pepper slams her body against the chair, trying to escape, as she does she spots the knife again, reaching for it she brings it up and tries as fast as she can to cut through the seat belt.

Glancing over at the van she panics as she spots the men through Buffy in the van "No." She breaths before speeding up the slicing, ignoring the burning sensation in her hand she finally cuts through the seat belt and immediately her body crashes down to the hood of the car.

Crying out in agony she quickly focuses as she hears the engine of the van starting, dragging her body towards the new hole in the car with her good arm she attempts to get to Buffy, but as she finally gets out of the car and rolls onto the concrete ground below the van with Buffy speeds away "Noooo!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay, look..." The brunette woman says as she stares at the Iron Man clad Tony, she was clearly in a rush which only made Tony slightly more suspicious "...I need to be alone with you, someplace not here." She says referring to Jarvis "It's urgent."  
Tony smirks slightly, he was finding this rather amusing but he quickly turned his back on her he didn't have time for amusing "Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship and you know I have a kid who kind of frowns on the whole thing."

 _"_ _Sir..."_ Jarvis interrupts but Tony merely waves his off as he orders the suit to dismantle from around him leaving him back in his regular clothes.  
"Jarvis order Maya Hansen a cab." He says before smirking at Maya who stares at him stunned as he walks away "Old botanist pal." Quickly he turns to Maya "Please don't tell me there's a 12 year old kid waiting in the car that I've never met, I've had a twelve year old, she was no exactly easy at that age, I can't do it again, I'll start losing my hair."

"He's 13." Maya jokes making Tony's face go very pale for a moment before she chuckles "No I need your help."  
 _"_ _Sir!"_ Jarvis exclaims urgently _"You need to watch the news!"  
_ Tony frowns Jarvis never yells, hell he wasn't even sure if he had programmed Jarvis to know how to yell, sure being a sassy ass guy was part of it but not the yelling.

Before Tony could say anything however the TV in the centre of the room switches on drawing Tony's attention away from the desperate Maya.

 _'_ _An accident on the driveway near a private Malibu beach has left CEO of Stark Industries Pepper Pott's car in shambles, security footage has revealed that the car was hit by a unknown black van causing Pott's car to go almost off the edge of the nerby cliff. The footage has also revealed that a young female was taken from the vechile...'_

Tony stands there in horror, this couldn't be happening, "Jarvis, call Pepper now!" Tony yells in a panic as he grabs his own phone only for Jarvis to cut him off _"She is not answering, sir."  
_ Tony panics, no, Buffy and Pepper would have been in that car, what if they were hurt or dead, or one of them had been taken. Who had taken them...

Tony's maddening thoughts were cut off as suddenly a blood covered Pepper comes stumbling in through the front door before collapsing onto the ground clutching her arm.  
She cries out in pain as she falls but quickly Tony runs over completely ignoring Maya and hugs her, sighing in relief, "Pepper, what happened?"  
Pepper hugs him before leaning back and looking at him sadly, her eyes were tear stained and red "Buffy."  
Tony's eyes widen, his fears coming to the surface "Where's Buffy? Where is my daughter?" He asks his voice breaking at the idea of what she was about to tell him.  
Pepper gasps slightly before looking at him sadly "They took her." Pepper winces in pain slightly before looking at him seriously "The Mandarin's men...they took her."

Tony helps her onto the couch before stepping away from her, he runs a hand over his jaw as thoughts continue to run through his head. Thoughts about who had taken her, where they had taken her, what they were doing to her. His daughter was injured and hurt and they were likely going to torture her...he couldn't breath, he felt like his entire body was about to shut down, it was like when she had died.

"No...no...no." He mutters to himself before slamming his fist into the wall "No!"  
Suddenly he pulls away, he needed to find her, he couldn't let anything happen to her, she was his little girl, he wouldn't let anything happen to her "Jarvis!"  
 _"_ _Already starting to search for signs of where these men could have taken her, sir."_

Tony nods, they needed to be doing everything they could to find his daughter, he didn't care what it took or who he had to pumble, this guy had taken his daughter and he was going to suffer "Contact, Shield, Watcher's Council, CIA, FBI, I don't care who you have to bribe but FIND MY DAUGHTER!"

"Ahh...Tony..." Maya says nervously from behind the furious Tony and the injured Pepper as she stares at the live news stream on the television in horror 'Can we, um..."  
"My daughter was just kidnapped, and the woman I live with was attacked what part of that do you not understand!" Tony hisses as he turns to Maya angrily, he didn't have time to deal with an old fling right now.  
"Well you have that to worry about as well." She says gesturing for him to turn to the television.

Tony wraps an arm around Pepper helping her stand as she struggles before turning to the television.  
As they do both Pepper and Tony's eyes widen in horror as on the screen they spot a missile heading towards the beach house about to blow up the whole place with them inside.

Tony turns to face the floor length windows only for suddenly the missile to crash inside setting off a large explosion in the living room sending all three of them flying through the air.

As they do Tony looks over at the still injured Pepper, quickly he summons the Mark 42 and instead of calling it to himself he sends it towards Pepper.  
As it takes form around her protecting her body from any further harm Tony's body collides with the back wall painfully, something most probably a rib was likely gonna be broken now.

Tony rolls on the ground and his eyes widen as he spots more helicopters with guns flying towards them, this wasn't going to be good.

* * *

"Sire." The devil says as she crouches down on the rock of the moon, bowing down before her maker, her master, her everything.

Thanos turns to the dark haired woman and stares into her dark eyes, the flicks of red from the power of the aether making him smile, he had created a truly powerful being, much more so than his daughters. Gamora and Nebula were nothing compared to this woman, his devil.

"My dear Lilith." He says, using the name he had given her, as he cups her cheek in his palm forcing her to rise back to her feet, he stares at the dark creature in front of him, the mischievous look in her eyes making him grin "What have you been planning?"

Lilith smiles at her master for a moment before raising her hand watching as the red mist circles her fingers almost like a snake "Wolfram and Hart, once a powerful organisation...now..." She clenches her fist shut the magic immediately disappearing in a puff of smoke "...nothing more than infants clawing at the last piece of power they have. We need power, allies, things they have, kill the Wolf Ram and Hart and that power and those allies, become ours."

Slowly a small grin covers Thanos' face, it was an excellent idea, by killing the Wolf Ram and Hart his protege would take their power and she would take their connections to the Hell Dimensions which would equal in more power for him.  
"Yes, my child, take they're power, strength your own. The aether inside of you will only grow as long as you feed it. Take their power, and become the Queen of those creatures they have a hold over. Become their death."

* * *

Buffy groans in agony as the vehicle she was in causes her to stir only for the pain in her shoulder and leg to suddenly hit her. Glancing down at her leg, she stifles a horrified gasp, the bone was practically sticking out of her leg and blood was pooling out of her, taking a shaky panicky breath Buffy attempts to move only to gasp in pain once more as she leans on her dislocated shoulder.  
This wasn't good was all she could think, she was trapped in a black van, with no windows, she had no idea where they were taking her and she was seriously injured.

She blinks slightly, trying to ignore the fogginess clouding her head, she tries to focus on remembering what had happened.

She had been in the car with Pepper...at that thought of Pepper Buffy's eyes widen she quickly looks around the van, she was alone, her hand chained to one of the wall.  
Sighing in relief for a moment that Pepper had not been taken Buffy again begins to worry, what if she had been hurt, what is she was—

"Hello Miss Stark. Good to see you awake." A voice says from the front of the van making Buffy's eyes glaze over in anger, turning around she faces the three men in the front of the car, the driver and one of the other men had their backs to her.  
"Where's Pepper?" Buffy hisses as she yanks on the chain only to groan in pain.  
"Alive." He tells her before turning away from her "We have no use for her at the moment."

Buffy growls slightly and kicks the wall "You touch her and I swear—"  
"You really do have a temper like your father." One of the other men says before turning to her and smirking.  
Buffy's eyes widen as she spots the familiar face "Aldrich Killian."

* * *

Tony blinks painfully trying to ignore the pain in his head as his glances around his still deconstructing beach home, as he glances around his eyes fall on Maya she was unconscious however quickly his attention was drawn to the ceiling which was about to collapse and crush him to death, he closes his eyes for a brief second as the fact that he was going to die sinks into his head however suddenly he feels something above him.

Opening his eyes he spots his Mark 42 suit crouched above him, protecting him from the falling concrete.  
Slowly the masks raising, revealing Pepper who smirks slightly "I got you."

"I got you first." He tells her before he moves to stand "We need to go now." He tells her before an idea comes to him, all the suits he had been designing, he could use them, however his idea was quickly squashed as he is distracted by the helicopters which were moving in closer to them.

As another missile crashes through the window causing yet another explosion in the living room, Tony goes flying across the room before crashing onto the coffee table before landing on the couch.

Tony coughs loudly as he stands, the dust from the falling concrete filling his veins, "Move!" He yells as he spots Pepper standing there watching him horrified "I'm right behind you."  
He quickly leaps off the couch and runs towards her only for the floor of the space between them to crumble, leaving a gaping hole between them that he couldn't cross.

Tony thinks for a moment before glancing at the still unconscious Maya "Get her. I'm gonna find a way around."  
When Tony notices Pepper pause he shakes his head "Stop stopping. Get her. Get outside. Go!"

Pepper hesitates for another brief moment before she allows the mask to lower and she quickly makes her way to Maya grabbing her before dragging her towards the exit.

As explosions to continue to go off around them Pepper desperately attempts to get the suit's repulsers working, but she was failing miserably. She couldn't understand how Tony could do it so easily. Shaking her head in frustration she lowers her hand as they approach the glass door however suddenly a pulse comes out of her hand sending them crashing through the glass before landing on the pavement just outside the beach house.

Pepper groans before slowly standing however as she does another explosion goes off inside the house causing more dust and concrete to come flying out of the glass windows, she immediately panics, Tony was still inside "Tony!"

:

Tony gasps as another missile hits the beach house, however this time it was hitting the pillars holding it up on the top of the mountain, as the whole room suddenly tips to the side he finds himself rolling backwards as he is unable to keep on his feet. The room was too unstable.

Slowly he begins to to slide down across the floor right towards the broken windows which would leave him to a very certain death if he fell.  
Grabbing onto a metal post just as he is about to fall to his death he gasps heavily and clutches to the cold metal.  
 _"_ _Sir, Ms. Potts is clear of the structure."_

Tony takes a deep breath, climbing onto the post so he was sitting on it he sighs for a moment of relief before focusing on summing the Mark 42 off of Pepper and towards him.  
He raises his hand and waits, as he spots the robotic limbs begin to fly back into the house he crawls back up the floors trying to avoid the guns being fired at him.

Slowly as more pieces begin to form around him he finds himself finally able to stand and once the suit is fully formed he turns in the direction of the helicopters currently trying to kill him.

Slowly the entire house begins to start falling over the side of the mountain heading straight for the ocean below, stumbling he groans before trying to figure out why he couldn't fly out, "Jarvis, where's my flight power?"  
 _"_ _Working on it, sir. This is a prototype. You have spent more time on Miss Stark's suit."_

Tony groans, he really had picked the wrong suit to wear today, quickly though he tries to focus only to have to turn away as another round of bullets is fired his way.  
As his body stumbles he grabs onto the concrete of the floor which had split and raises his hands prepared to attack only to frown at the sight of the offline warning.  
He sighs, great first a suit that couldn't fly now one that couldn't fight back.

He turns his head only to spot a large object about to hit him, he realises the concrete allowing himself to slide down the room just before the object could hit him.  
He turns his body to face one of the helicopters and just as his pulsers come online he fires at it sending it crashing out of the sky "That's one."

 _"_ _Sir, the suit is not combat ready."_ Jarvis warns Tony as Tony attempts to get another blast out of the repulsers.  
When is unable to he runs across the room while attempting to rip one of the missiles in his suit out his arm, all while avoiding getting hit again but another gun.

Finally he yanks out the small missile and just as he comes into view of the second helicopter he tosses the missile at it, watching as it cause the helicopter to explode before beginning to fall from the sky.

Tony smiles only to quickly realise that the helicopter was about to smash into him, and the remains of his home "Oh." He breaths before running.

Tony groans as he lands in the garage only to be forced to watch as all his designs are destroyed before finally the rest of his house crashes towards the ocean with him still holding onto it.

Tony gasps as water fills his suit, this one had not been designed for this, he knew that he wouldn't have long till he would drown. Groaning he panics as he spots more rubble about to land on him.

He attempts to lift it the rubble on top of him off but it was too much, too much weight, too much water filling his lungs. He could feel it, he was going to die, a part of him almost welcomed it, as there was a light at the end of the tunnel, he could see her, his Joy, the mother of his daughter waiting for him. But at the thought of his daughter he takes a deep breath, he needed to fight for her, she had been taken against her will and he would not let anyone hurt her.

Slowly he releases one of the hands of his suit allowing it to circle around him before taking his real hand and bringing him out from under the rubble.

Tony shakes himself as the rubble is removed from his body, slowly he places the hand back on before kicking his feet together causing him to fly upwards towards the surface.  
 _"_ _Flight Power restored."_ Jarvis informs a weak Tony as he flies right into the cloud completely out of sight.

* * *

 _"_ _Tony Stark is dead."_ The News Anchor says drawing Lilith's attention away from the dark spell book she had collected from the Collector on her way back to earth after speaking to Thanos.  
Placing the book down she twirls in her chair and turns to the television and smirks at what she hears.

 _"_ _A few hours after the confirmation that Buffy Anne Summers Stark was taken hostage by the Mandarin, Tony Stark's beach house mansion was attacked leaving the billionaire dead with Pepper Potts being the lone survivor in this tragedy."_

The Devil woman smiles, they had the Slayer and Stark was dead, it had all gone according to plan, slowly she rises from her chair before heading towards the door, it was time to begin the next phase of her plan.


	13. Chapter 13

S.H.I.E.L.D HEADQUARTERS – WASTINGTON, DC

Nick Fury stands by the floor length windows of his desk, this couldn't be happening, Summers had been taken by The Mandarin and Stark was dead. Fury runs a hand over his head before running it along his jaw as he contemplates what to do, two of his people were missing, but with the Tahiti project still in progress he didn't have the resources to send help without blowing Buffy's cover.

For a brief moment the Director of SHIELD considered allowing Rogers to go but he quickly chose against that, from what Maria had told him Rogers and Summer had become quite close and he couldn't risk the Captain getting too emotional about this.

"Sir." Melinda May says as she enters the room, curious as to why he had asked her here.  
Fury pauses and turns to the Agent, she was one of his bests and one of the few with prior experience with Buffy.

"Summers was taking by the Mandarin." He tells her watching as for a brief second she stares in shock before settling back into her emotionless facade.

"Rogers can't know." Fury tells her "I have a feeling he may have become too emotionally connected to our Slayer."

Slowly Fury looks at her seriously, she knew what he wanted, with Barton and Romanoff in Bulgaria, she was the next highest trained operative but he also knew she refused field work.  
"Melinda." Fury says softly, "Buffy Summers is a 23 years old girl. You've known her since she was 19. Help me find her."

* * *

LOCATION UNKNOWN 

Buffy groans as she is tossed in a small cell in what looked like a building which was about to collapse in on itself.  
Sighing she runs a hand through her sweaty hair only to groan as she attempts to sit up, her leg was still bleeding but when they had thrown her on a plane one of the men had bandaged it but not exactly the most effective way.

The bandage was filthy and her bone was still sticking out, she leans her head against the wall knowing and dreading what she had to do.

Grabbing onto her leg she takes several deep breaths arguing with herself about whether or not to do this, biting her lower lip she closes her eyes before snapping the bone back into her leg causing her to cry out in agony as a searing pain runs through her entire body.

Water fills her eyes but she stays determined, ripping the bottom of her vest leaving her stomach exposed she wraps the material around her leg before groaning once again as the pain hits her, threatening to consume her.

 _"_ _...Tony Stark's beach house mansion was attacked..."_

Buffy freezes as she hears the words come from the rusty television in the corner of the room, glancing over she watches in horror as her home is blown up by missiles.

She panics, this couldn't have happened, it was some trick, it had to be...but in her heart she knew it was true, her home was destroyed.

 _"_ _Tony Stark is dead."_

As the words leave the Anchor's lips Buffy's entire body goes rigid, no, no, no, he wasn't dead, he couldn't be.  
Buffy shakes her head as tears roll down her cheeks, she wouldn't belief it, her dad could not be gone.

Slowly as she watches the replay of what had happened at the scene her body begins shaking in horror, her face going deadly pale as she realises that it was in fact true.  
"NOoooooooo!"

* * *

 _"_ _Sir!"_ Jarvis exclaims as he blasts the alarms in the suit, trying to wake his boss, who was still unconscious.  
Finally Tony stirs, the alarms finally having done the trick "All right, kill the alarm." Tony tells him "I got it." Tony opens his eyes only for them to go wide as he spots all the warnings on the screens in front of him.

 _"_ _That's the emergency alart triggered by the power dropping below 5%."_

Tony sighs in panic, this wasn't good, he was going to go crashing down and quickly "Oh..." He sighs trying to think of what to do but suddenly he finds himself about to crash into a car, turning he losses control and ends up screaming as he crashes through a forest, hitting tree after tree, before his body flips through the air violently causing him to repeatedly hit his head against the metal.

Suddenly though he goes crashing down again and ends up rolling violently along the snow covered frozen floor for what felt like a lifetime, before finally he landed on his back and halted.

Groaning Tony sighs, he was beginning to feel very clastraphoic in this suit, sighing he pulls the helmet off only to be met with a very off sight. It was snowing, he may not be sure of a lot right now, but he was sure of one thing, he wasn't in Malibu anymore.

"Where are we, upstate?" Tony asks Jarvis.  
 _"_ _We are five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee."_

At that Tony's eyes widen, this was not good, his daughter had been kidnapped, she could be God knows anywhere and Jarvis had dragged him to Tennessee "Why!? Jarvis. Not my idea. What are we doing here? This is a thousand miles away! I gotta go find Buffy...I gotta..." Tony takes a deep breath, it was getting a bit difficult to breathe in this weather.

 _"_ _I prepared a flight plan."_ Jarvis tells him " _This was the location."  
_ Tony rolls his eyes "Who asked you? Open the suit."  
At that moment Jarvis speaks again, only this time his voice was crackling _"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."  
_ Tony at this point didn't care, he wanted out "Open it, J."

Slowly the suit opens around him and instantly Tony sits up only to regret it, it was freezing, and having lived in Malibu for so long his body was not accustomed to this "God, that's brisk." He mutters before blowing his hands trying to warm them up.

After a long moment in the freezing snow he decided that maybe coming out of the suit had not been the best idea, "Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a..."

 _"_ _I actually think I need to sleep now, sir."_ Jarvis tells him before the suit begins to power down.  
Tony's eyes widen, no, no, no, this could not be happening right now "Jarvis? Jarvis? Don't leave me buddy."

* * *

Buffy continues to sob on the floor as she stares at the floor, her dad was dead and she hadn't been there to stop it. The Mandarin had blown up their home and killed him like it was nothing, like he was nothing.

Wiping her eyes Buffy takes another gasping breath, her heart hurt, everything hurt, she felt like she couldn't breathe, like she was hollow.

"They told me about you." A voice says from across the room drawing the sad girl's attention.  
Buffy frowns and sniffles before she looks up only to growl at the sight of Aldrich Killian standing opposite her cell.

He smirks down at the girl who was still covered in dried blood and laughs "The girl with the strength. A true warrior. They are so threatened by you. I don't get it. Personally."

Buffy growls and using the wall to stand she glares over at him, all she could imagine was snapping his neck like a twig "What do you want with me hopscotch?"  
Aldrich chuckles at the blonde as he moves over to her cell "You really are your father's daughter."

"You have no idea." She mumbles before she steps forward, and too fast for him to see she sticks her hands through the cell bars and wraps her hand around his throat yanking him off his feet, causing him to claw for breath "You and The Mandarin...you killed my dad. You're dead."

"I'm just taking order's sweetheart." He coughs out causing her to pause, she frowns in confusion only for a long tazer stick to appear in Killian's hands. He sticks it through the cell and hits her with it sending waves of electricity through her body.

"Ahhh!" Buffy cries as she drops to the ground, her body shuddering violently on the floor due to the pain.

Killian coughs loudly before rubbing his now sore neck, he honestly hadn't expected her to be that strong. Groaning in annoyance that she had caught him off guard he opens the door allowing two guards to walk into the room before heading straight into Buffy's cell.

Buffy's eyes widen as two sets of feet begin hitting her, hitting her ribs and her face and her legs, she couldn't stop them all she could do was grunt in pain again and again.  
Before they finally dragged her out of the room with her vision blurring in and out.

* * *

Tennessee

After finding what he assumed was an abandoned garage Tony sighs in relief as the warmth of the room fills him.  
Collapsing next to the suit for a brief moment on the couch he takes a long breath, he just wanted to sleep but he knew he couldn't every moment he spent here was one more moment that Buffy was still missing.

Standing he moves over to the small work station, luckily whoever's garage this was seemed to be some form of mechanic so there was basic equipment which was better than nothing.  
Grabbing a set of pliers he moves to remove to trackers in his arms only to pause as he hears a small voice from behind him.

"Freeze. Don't move."

Tony pauses and turns only to spot a 8 year old kid holding what appeared to be some form of nerf gun with potatoes inside, he couldn't help but find the picture amusing. Releasing the pillars he holds up his hands in surrender "You got me. Nice potato gun." He pauses and takes a good long look at the gun "Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge it's gonna diminish your FPS."

The kid glares at him before firing at the glass near Tony's head causing it to shatter loudly.  
Tony chuckles slightly before lowering his hands "And now you're out of ammo."

The kid continues to keep the now empty gun aimed at him "What's that thing on your chest?"  
"It an electromagnet." Tony tells him before tapping one of the boxes on the table "You should know, you got a box of them right here."  
The kid lowers his gun slightly, curiosity filling him "What do it power?"

Tony smiles slightly, this kid reminded him a lot of Buffy at that age, with the sass and the constant questions.  
Stepping to the side he allows the kid to finally see the Mark 42 that was still sat on the couch.

* * *

SHIELD HEADQUARTERS – WASHIONGTON D.C

Captain Steve Rogers was making his way through headquarters towards the weapons room so that he could prepare for his next mission when something catches his eye. One of the Agents at a nearby desk was reading the newspaper, which wasn't too un-ordinary, however what really caught Steve's attention was the title of the article on the front page.

 _Buffy Anne Summers Stark Missing – Tony Stark Presumed Dead_

Steve's eyes widen and he grabs the paper off the Agent not hearing the Agent's protests as he walked off with the paper.

Steve pauses in his steps as he reads, this was insane, how did he not know about this?  
Tony was dead and Buffy was... Steve takes a gulp, a heavy pit in his stomach forming, she was missing, someone could be hurting her.  
He slowly feels his anger begin to build and clutches the paper in his hands, his knuckles going white from the tightness of his grip.

After a long moment he tosses the paper on a nearby desk before storming towards Fury's office. Not bothering to knock like he normally would, all politeness had disappeared for the moment, she was in danger, and he cared about her and didn't want her hurt. However what he had yet to come to realise was just how much he cared for her.

Fury looks up from his desk and frowns at the sight of the Captain, he had never seen Rogers look so angry, he was supposed to be the righteous man who controlled his anger. Apparently not at the moment.

Sighing Fury stands, he knew what this was about, it was about a woman, whenever a man had that look on his face it was about a woman "This is about the Starks."  
"Where is she!" Steve hisses he didn't have the patience for Fury's games right now.  
"We have no idea." Fury tells him honestly, "These people are strong, strong enough to take her, they're smart."

Steve runs a hand through his hair before coming to a decision, Buffy needed help and he was going "I'm gonna need a plane."  
"No." Fury says simply causing Steve's eyes to widen "No offence Captain but I have already sent in an Agent who has known our Slayer since she was 19. Stark is dead and Summers is in danger, I can't risk you going into the field."

Steve frowns in confusion, he had done more field work in the past few months than most people do in their entire careers, why not send him in? "I should be going in."  
"You're too involved."  
Steve shakes his head not getting what Fury meant "I don't know what you're talking about."

Fury sighs, he didn't have time for this he needed to speak to Agent May and he couldn't do that with Rogers pouncing around "Rogers you have a mission, go on it. Your mission is important. Summers can handle herself and Agent May will find her. Summers would kill you if you didn't do your job."

Steve groans and clenches his jaw, he couldn't risk her getting hurt, she had been his one stabilizer in this new time. She had helped him, made him smile, she had even showed up at The Retreat when he had taken some time to adjust to the idea of a new world.

He slowly walks out of Fury's office and closes his eyes remembering back to that day, the first time he had seen her after the Battle of New York.

 _Steve runs a hand through his wet hair as he walks into the living room of the cabin, he takes a deep breath and pulls on his jeans before walking over to the kitchen, still clad without a shirt._

 _As he stands in the kitchen he glances around the Cabin, it hadn't changed a bit since the last time he had been here, other than the leftover Beer that Barton had most probably left during his last stay here.  
_ _As he thinks of his teammate another one pops into his head, Buffy. He couldn't help but feel for her, she had suffered the most during the battle, watching her father almost die before her best friend had taken his place and died sacrificing herself for the world._

 _He pauses for a moment contemplating calling in to check on her but he knew she was most probably still in England for the funeral. She was one of his first real friends in this time and he really wanted to be there for her, if the funeral hadn't been such a personal affair he would have gone...but he was still getting to know her and didn't want to cross any boundaries._

 _Grabbing a can of coke he takes a deep breath trying to push thoughts of Howard's Granddaughter out of his head...the idea of Howard having a Grandaughter in the first place was so strange. He never would have thought that a Stark could be like that, so kind, selfless, strong and full of light. While she still had Howard's sharp tongue she could not be more different...honestly she was truely amazing and beautiful..._

 _At that Steve quickly closes his mind down, he couldn't think of her that way, she was Tony's daughter and his friend. It was just weird to think about a Stark that way._

 _Luckily a knock at the door draws his attention tearing his mind away from his arguing thoughts, he stands and walks over to the door. Assuming it was one of the Agent's who had dropped him off he yanks the door open only to freeze as standing there in floral dress (_ /images/HjcVk8) _with her long blonde hair in straight waves down her back was the woman who he had just been thinking about._

 _"_ _Miss Stark."  
_ _Buffy looks up at him and smiles slightly before arching a brow at his shirtless demeanour "You alright thee Fabio?"  
_ _Steve's eyes widen and he blushes slightly in embarrassment before quickly backing away and grabbing his shirt off the table before pulling it on.  
_ _As he turns back to her she smiles at him "Plus I told you, call me Buffy. I'm 23 not ancient."_

 _Steve chuckles slightly before letting her into the house and closing the door behind her. He watches her for a moment noticing the sad look on her face "How—how was..." he stutters slightly unsure of how to ask._

 _Buffy shrugs slightly "It was long." She says simply before moving to sit on the couch "Sorry to bother you Steve. I just thought I'd come and check on you before I head back to Malibu."_

 _Steve arches a brow in confusion, she was the one who had just been at the funeral for her best friend yet she was worried about him. He sighs before moving to sit opposite her "You're checking up on me?"  
_ _Buffy chuckles slightly "We didn't get to talk much after the battle...or even before...we sort of just had to go hey, okay cool friends now. So as your new yet slightly unknown friend I came to see how you are adjusting."_

 _Steve lets out a small breath, here she was after everything she had been through asking him how he was adjusting to this new time, she really was unlike any woman he had ever met.  
_ _"_ _It's...different." He breathes with a small laugh "To say the least. Going to sleep during a war and waking up learning that we won...it's a lot to take in."_

 _"_ _I can imagine." Buffy tells him before looking at him seriously, she felt like she could trust him "I died once." She tells him with a small shrugs.  
_ _Steve's eyes widen at that but from the way she merely shrugged it off it made him feel confused, how could dying not be such a big deal to her.  
_ _"_ _Anyway..." She continues "...when I was brought back...things were different. My changes weren't as drastic as yours but...if you ever need to talk...I may be a Stark but I'm a good listening. I took after my mother."_

 _Steve chuckles slightly, he couldn't help but be grateful "Thank you."_

 _The two stay that way in a comfortable silence for a moment before Buffy pulls out a small book from her brown leather jacket and hands it to him "I made it on the plane, so it might be a bit smudgy."_

 _Steve arches a brow before opening the book only to spot a list inside, all of things he didn't understand.  
_ _"_ _What is this?" He asks as he turns the pages.  
_ _Buffy smiles "It's a list obviously. It's of all the things you need to get through. There's lot of history, these are just the most important things..." She points a one of them "Like Star Wars...trust me there is a character in one of them that looks like Fury...like exactly like him...it's really creepy. Gave me nightmares for a week."_

 _Steve smiles slighty, this was really kind, and thoughtful, he had known there was so much he needed to catch up but he had had no idea where to start, now he did. She really was a good friend._

 _"_ _Thank you Buffy."_

Steve takes a deep breath and sighs sadly, she had become his best friend here and he was so scared he would lose her. But he knew her well enough now to know that she would in fact beat him to pulp if he didn't do his job and go on this mission. She would always put others first.

However just because he was going on this mission, didn't mean he wouldn't make sure that she was brought back safe. Tony was dead, one of his only other friends, and he couldn't lose anyone else.

Grabbing his phone he brings it to his ear and waits for the call to England to go through.


	14. Chapter 14

Unknown Location 

Buffy groans slightly as she feels her body begin to stir, she shifts slightly only to find herself unable to, there was something pinning her down to the soft surface she on. Her eyes instantly slam open and she gasps as she realises that she was strapped down on what appeared to be a hospital bed.  
She attempts to sit up only to slam back down again, she couldn't break through the straps, "Ah!" She screams in frustration as she attempts to break free again but nothing.  
She hisses as her head slams back down on the bed, this wasn't good, she couldn't understand why she couldn't' break though the straps, it should be easy.

As she continues to shift in the bed she realises that she was hooked up to something. Turning her head she glances at her arm where a needle was hooked up to her, it looked like they were taking her blood.  
Buffy's eyes widen in panic, she needs to get out of here, she attempts to move again only for the pain in her leg and ribs to return causing her to cry out in pain.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Killian says as he enters the room and moves to stand by the Slayer's bedside.

Buffy's eyes glaze over in fury she slams against the bed violently trying to get to him, she was going to rip his scrawny little head off "I"m gonna kill you, you son a bitch."  
Killian merely chuckles as he watches her struggle "Abrasive, just like your father."  
Buffy groans in agony as she drops back against the bed, turning her head she glares at Killian, desperately trying to ignore the red hot tears of fury running down her cheeks.

"You're a special girl Buffy." Killian tells her as he circles around her bed walking over to the bag by the bed that was currently being filled with her blood "And you're going to help us."

Buffy groans slightly in confusion, she was feeling weak, she was losing too much blood, from her leg and her side, to him literally draining her, it was beginning to take it's toll on her "What are you doing to me?"

"I have a little experiment..." He tells her as he leans on the edge of her bed and inspects her injured leg before tapping it causing her to cry out "That's not good is it." He says with a small grin as he backs away from her and circles around the bed once more so that he was right by her head "...you're special." He tells her again.  
Buffy frowns in confusion "We've already played that part...so quit with the recaps and get to what you want."  
"You're power." He says simply "You seen my experiment...well something is missing...a key element. You. Your blood. Your strength. Strong enough to take any beating, any injury."

Buffy's eyes widen at that, it's just like what the people at Centipede had been doing to Spike, taking his blood trying to get the strength, she couldn't help but wonder if this would even work, her strength was magical, mystical...could it really be taken given to someone else like this, just by using her blood.

Unable to control herself her eyes being to drop again, she was getting very sleepy and everything was slowly disappearing into the background.  
Killian crouches down in front of the young girl and increases the aesthetic putting her to sleep "Don't worry. We're not going to kill you. Not yet anyway...there's someone who wants to meet you."

Buffy frowns in confusion as her vision begins to fade in and out, who wanted to meet her, was it the Mandarin? However before she could come up with an idea of who it was that wanted to meet her her body gave out and she slowly fell into unconsciousness.

 _"_ _Remind me why we have to do this?" Steve asks as he glances over at Buffy who was standing in the kitchen of his apartment.  
_ _Buffy chuckles in amusement, he still didn't get the big deal, he couldn't go out into the world without understanding even the basics of pop culture references "I'm helping you."_ _She tells him as she tosses the popcorn at him before jumping onto the couch to sit beside him. Placing her feet on the couch she turns so that she can face him "You have to do this...it's a right of passage."_

 _Steve chuckles slightly, sometimes she could be extremely over the top in her pop culture lessons._

 _Buffy rolls her eyes when she spots the skeptical look on his face "Steve...it Jaws!" She exclaims as she throws her hands in the air "Okay...massive film. You have no choice here I will tie you to the couch if I have to."  
_ _Steve laughs loudly before allowing his head to drop onto the couch, after a moment he tilts his head and smiles at the big green begging eyes "Fine."  
_ _Buffy grins happily before pressing play on the machine._

 _As they watch the film, Steve couldn't help but enjoy it, this was a lot better than the last movie she had made him sit through._

 _About halfway through he glances over at her only to see a sad expression on her face "Buffy."  
_ _Buffy glances over at him for a moment before shaking herself "Sorry." She breaths, knowing she was bringing the mood down drastically.  
_ _Steve pauses the film and turns to her "Hey." He says softly as he takes her hand and looks at her with understanding "Talk to me."_

 _Buffy takes a deep breath, "I didn't remember, I forgot that this was the last..."  
_ _Steve's eyes widen in realisation, this must have been the last film she had watched with Willow before her death.  
_ _"_ _Sorry, crying Buffy kind of a buzzkill." She says with a sad chuckle as she wipes her eyes._

 _Steve shakes his head before cupping her cheek in his palm and looking into her eyes "Buffy, you are practically my best friend. No matter what I'm gonna be there."_

 _Buffy takes a shaky breath before leaning forward and resting her head on Steve's shoulder allowing him to wrap an arm around her, as he comforted her. She hadn't planned to fall apart again, this had meant to be a quiet evening and here she was in misery with Steve having to comfort her...but still he was here, he wasn't upset or annoyed, he was worried about her, and wanted to be there for her, which made her smile, she really had a great friend in Steve._

 _Suddenly the lock on the front door causes the two of their head's to swing to the side as they both leap off the couch and grab their weapons._

 _Buffy prepares to swing the scythe only to freeze in shock, she lowers the weapon and continues to stare, he couldn't be serious "Dad?"  
_ _"_ _Hey Buffster." Tony says with a grin "Captain Gramps." He says to Steve before closing the front door behind him._

 _Steve groans slightly, every single time him and Buffy spent time together, her father always found them, no matter how many precautions they took. They were in Washington having coffee, he found them, she was helping out on a mission is Russia, he found them. It was like he was watching them 24/7._

 _"_ _How did you get into my apartment?" Steve asks curiously.  
_ _Tony shrugs "It's my building."  
_ _Steve's eyes widen as he moves to sit back down in his seat, he should have realised "Of course it is. You own every building."_

 _Buffy groans slightly, she could see having her dad interrupt their time together again was frustrating Steve "Dad, what are you doing here?"  
_ _Tony grins slightly before moving over to his daughter "I heard it was movie night." He says cheerfully before moving to sit Buffy back on the couch.  
_ _He then sits in between her and Steve and taps them both on the knee "So what are we watching?"_

Buffy blinks slightly as she feels her body slowly start to wake up, she knew it wouldn't last though, her consciousness was fighting to stay awake, but her body was too weak, it needed time to heal, and to rest.  
As the bed shakes violently Buffy groans and tilts her head only to realise she was moving, the bed was being wheeled somewhere, where were they taking her? What else were they planning to do to her? They had already taken so much from her, what else could they possibly do to her.  
"She's waking, give her another dose." She hears someone say vaguely before her eyes begin to close again, despite her fighting to keep them open.


	15. Chapter 15

England, United Kingdom

Selene watched as Xander paced through his office for the 50th time, she could see it even if he couldn't. It was getting to him, he had taken a human life and that feeling it took away from you, that innocence that it took, was finally beginning to hit him. He was finally realizing what he had done.

And what he had lost.

Xander runs a shaky hand through his hair before turning to his door, he pauses for a moment as he spots Selene watching him but just as quickly as he had stopped he went back to pacing. He was worried, he had seen the news, seen the attach in Malibu, Buffy was gone, her dad was dead and she was most probably next. He couldn't lose her, he had already lost Willow Buffy was all he had left...she was his best friend...he couldn't live without her.

He pulls at the ends as thoughts continue to plague him, he should never have left L.A so quickly, he should have made sure she got home to the beach house safely. There were always people after her, he should have gone with her, should have stayed with her. He shouldn't be here running this place.

He takes a deep breath before moving to call Giles only for it to go straight to voicemail, sighing he places his phone back down, Giles was currently out helping the girls in Cleveland while Faith was still in a coma, there was no way he was going to get ahold of him now.

"Xander." Selene calls as she quickly enters the room with a phone in her hand "Steve Rogers wants to speak to you."

* * *

Tennessee

"He's in Pain." Tony tells the kid as he watches the child continue to play with the suit, in annoyance "He's been injured. Leave him alone."  
The boy looks up at Tony before glancing down guiltily as the finger he had pulled off the suit "Sorry."

"Are you?" Tony asks skeptically only to frown when the kid looks up at him guilty, dammit, since when did he become so soft "Don't worry about it, I'll fix it."  
The two stand there in an awkward silence for a moment before a thought occurs to Tony "So, uh, who's home?"  
"Well, my mom already left for diner and dad went to 7-11 to get scratchers. I guess he won, because that was six years ago."

Tony sighs, he felt for the kid, when he was younger he most probably would have just made a crud remark but he was a father now, he had a daughter, one who had shown him that he hadn't become his father.  
"You know...some dads...they don't see what's right in front of them. They want more and take things for granted. Mine was the same."

Tony takes a deep breath for a moment before focusing, he wasn't here to comfort this kid, he needed to fix his suit so he could go save his daughter, that was the priority "Here's what I need. A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumantic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring and a tuna fish sandwich."

The kid looks at him skeptically before smirking up at him "What's in it for me?"

* * *

Malibu, California

Pepper stands at the edge of the cliff where the beach house had once layed. Ignoring the sounds of the press and the police around her she continues to stare at the oceon. Somewhere down there in the oceon there was Tony. Dead.

She takes a shaky breath, in the space of 4 hours she had lost everything, Buffy was missing, with God knows what being done to her...and Tony was gone.

They were both gone and she had nothing left.

Taking a shaky breath as the reality of the situation hits her Pepper raises the Iron Man mask she had found at the edge and leans her forehead against the cool metal, imagining that Tony was here with her.

Slowly a faint beeping noise begins coming from the helmet causing Pepper to frown in confusion, she pulls away from the mask and stares at it in shock, turning it over she spots the red light and instantly her eyes widen. It wasn't possible but maybe...just maybe...

Lifting the mask she places it over her face and despite her suspicions when she hears Tony's voice she could help but gasp in relief and shock, he was alive.

 _"_ _Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So...first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Pepper I've got to find Buffy...so I'm not coming back, not till she is save in my arms."_

* * *

England, United Kingdom

"Wow." Xander breaths as he places the phone down after a long talk with Captain Rogers... _The Capatin Rogers._

Xander honestly still couldn't believe it, if this had been any other night, he most probably would be jumping up and down in excitment before rubbing it in Andrew's face. However the conversation they had had wasn't a pleasant one.

Steve had asked for his help in finding Buffy, he was on a mission and if he didn't go thousands would die but he didn't trust Fury to find her alone.

It was so unbelievable; Captain America had asked for his help...when had his life gotten so much more complicated.

Glancing over at Selene he frowns from the look on her face the scrying spell wasn't working.

She groans slightly before opening her eyes and placing the crystal back down on the map "Something is blocking me." She says with a sigh as she runs a hand through her hair in frustration, she couldn't understand what or who could be so powerful to block her magic.

Xander glances over at the witch and sighs sadly, he knew she was trying to help, she cared about Buffy as well and he felt guilty for pressuring her to move faster.

Selene takes a deep breath before picking up the blade with Buffy's blood on it and raising the crystal, as the crytal hovers over the map Selene opens her eyes "I'm tracking her blood." She tells Xander before pointing at one point of the map where the crytal had been hovering "That's Dawn." Suddenly the crustal spins madly before landing ontop of Tennesse.

"Is that Buffy?" Xander asks in shock as he stares at the crystal.

Selene shakes her head, it didn't feel like Buffy, it was her blood but it wasn't her, which could only mean..."There's two signals, one is where Dawn is and the other..." Selene pauses and looks at Xander seriously "Xander, I think Stark is alive."

* * *

"What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?" Pepper asks Maya as she drives Tony's car towards Stark Industries, she needed to find a way to track where he was using the mask, she just wasn't sure how, hopefully something there would help her.

Maya opens her mouth but freezes as she stares at the red-head, she didn't exactly think mentioning this now would be the best thing, the woman opposite her had literally just lost everything because of these people "I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin." When Pepper's eyes widen Maya sighs "So If you still wanna talk about it I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe."

Pepper shakes her head as what Maya was telling her settles in, how the hell was this all happening "Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony told Jarvis you're a Botanist..."  
"That figures." Maya finishes her sentence "What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of 40 out of a privately funded think tank. But sure, you can call me a botanist."

Pepper groans slightly, she really wasn't in the mood for this woman's attitude "Don't get sassy with me. Tony is missing, the closest thing I have to a daughter was kidnapped and I am very close to snapping."

Maya gulps slightly, despite looking at delicate as a flower this woman was terrifying.  
Pepper takes a deep breath before focusing "This boss of yours, does he have a name?"  
"Yeah, Aldrich Killian."

* * *

Unknown Location

Buffy groans as she feels her body finally beginning to come back to consciousness, she turns on her side only for her eyes to slam open. She wasn't restrained for the first time since she had been here.  
She groans again as she sits up trying to figure out what her new surroundings were like, she blinks slightly her vision still slightly blurry.

Finally after a long moment her vision clears allowing her to see her new prison, it was a simple four by four cell in the centre of a large concrete hall.

She pulls herself up so she was leaning against the metal bars and glances around the large concrete hall, her cell was in the middle of the room allowing all the guards to keep an eye on her.

Buffy tilts her head around silently counting the amount of guards surrounding her, five guards. She could do five guards. Possibly.  
Glancing down at her still seriously injured leg she frowns, the blood was begging to get darker and the fact that they had been taking her blood wasn't going to help.

She could feel her body slowly shutting down...too much blood was gone...if they took another ounce she knew deep down she wouldn't wake up again.  
Clenching her jaw she takes a deep breath, she needed to get out of here now otherwise there would be no getting out of here.

Taking a shaky breath she wraps her hands around the bars of her cell using the metal to pull her body up. Wincing as she slowly lifts herself onto her feet she can't help but cry out in agony as her bad leg straightens out she could feel the recently reset bone grinding together painfully.

She clutches her leg as she notices it begin to seep blood again only this time it was starting to get darker and darker, she bites her lip in panic and pain, she needed to get out of here or at least get her leg properly patched up.

Biting the inside of her jaw she swallows the pain forcing it back to the darker part of her mind as she pulls once more till she was standing fully.

"Hello sweetheart." A southern accent says from behind her causing her to growls slightly as she turns to spot one of the guards approaching her cell.  
Her eyes widen slightly as she spots the matchstick he was currently chewing on, it was just hanging there in the corner of his mouth and despite it being small she couldn't help but form a small plan in her head.

"You are a pretty little thing." The guard says with a small chuckle.

Buffy glares at him angrily as she examines him, he had a Glock 34 hanging on his left side as well as a a hunting knife on his right ankle.

Her main focus however was the M16A2 assault rifle in his hands, if she made one wrong move he could light her up with that in the space of a few seconds.  
If she was going to get out of here she needed to get ahold of their weapons and she could only do that if one of them was in here with her.

"You don't talk much do you girl?" The guard asks again as his eyes look her up and down before landing on her oozing leg "Damn, that ain't too pretty."  
Buffy rolls her eyes "Can we quit it with the sweet chitchat we aren't old buddies."

"The Boss said you were sassy." He says with a grin before aiming the tip of the rifle at her making her tighten her grasp on the bars as she stared him down.

"Just like your daddy."

Buffy grins slightly, a look of fury filling her eyes, she smirks at him before gesturing for him to come closer.

The guard frowns before looking her up and down again, after a long pause he approaches smirking down at her, she smiles sweetly before reaching through the bars and yanking on the front of his shirt causing him to slam into the metal.

She grins before slamming his head repeatedly quickly catching the matchstick in her palm and slipping it into the waist of her trousers.

Suddenly gun shots go off around her before a violent pain hits Buffy's forearm causing her to cry out in agony and release the guard who was now coughing violently.

Buffy groans in agony as she clutches her arm, there was a bullet imbedded in her forearm and it was bleeding heavily, she growls slightly before turning around to glare at all the guards who were beginning to surround her cell, their guns aimed at her head.

"Sneaky little moron..." The first guard says as he rubs his now bleeding forehead "...but down worry soon you'll be put in a coffin right next to mommy and daddy."

That had done it. That had caused her to snap, it seemed like all the pain she was in due to her injuries all faded to the back ground as all she could see was red. She wanted to tear this man limb from limb.

She growls and screams loudly before launching at the bars again only this time as her hands make contact with the metal an electric shock goes through her causing her body to convulse before she is consumed in darkness.


	16. Chapter 16

_"_ _No Stark."_ One of his men tells Aldrich as he plays with his glass of bourbon, at the man's words Aldrich could feel his anger rising. Stark was supposed to be dead, if he was alive then Lilith was going to begin ripping things to shreds and he would most probably be on that chopping block.

"Mmm-hmm. I see. I have to go." He tells his soldier before standing from his desk and moving towards the double doors down the hall "The Master is about to record and he's a little...well, you know how he gets. Keep your appointment tonight and call me when it's done."

* * *

May glances over at the control panels on the plane that Fury had allowed her to use to track Summers. As she places the plane on autopilot she stands and makes her way into the main room and stands opposite the main screen.  
She had been trying to find anything that could lead her to where the Mandarin was keeping Buffy. She clenches her jaw as the search comes up empty again, despite not letting others see she did care for the girl, she had made quite the impression when they had met almost five years ago.

Honestly Buffy had been one of the few people that had made her crack a smile in the past 7 years.

Suddenly a beeping comes from one of the screens on the other side of the room, May instantly spins around and quickly types into the holographic keypad on the table, her eyes widen as instead of spotting the blonde Slayer she was searching for she spotted a signal...one Fury had set up to alert them of any local arc reactor technology.

"Stark." She breaths before quickly running back to the plane controls and resetting course for Tennessee.

* * *

"The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do." Tony tells the kid as he leads him around town, as they walk Tony glances down yet again at the stupid Dora the Explora watch Harley (The Kid) had given him "By the way, when you said your sister had a watch..."  
"Yeah?" Harley asks in confusion as he spots something on the floor by Tony's feet.

Tony not noticing his distraction merely groans at the sight of the watch "...I was kind of hoping for something a little more adult than that."  
Harley laughs "She's six." He points out before picking up the object and continuing to walk along side Tony through the cold empty streets "And it's limited edition. When can we talk about New York?"  
Tony glances over at the kid before shaking his head "Maybe...never. Relax about it."  
"What about the Avengers? Ooh can we talk about the Slayer?"|

Tony arches a brow and pushes the kid away from him slightly "No and why do you wanna talk about her?"  
"She's cool."

Tony shakes his head in amusement only to frown when the kid looks at him with begging eyes causing him to roll his own, he really did not want to talk about this "Later. Kid give me a little space." He hisses as Harley again tries to stand closer to him causing him to lift the kid and place him further away.

As they reach the end of the street Tony pauses as the remains of an old building stood before him, it looked like something like an explosion had taken the whole thing down.  
"What's the story here?"  
Harley shrugs "I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabouts. He won a bunch of medals in the army. And one day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know a bomb, and he blew himself up right here. Plus five other people."

Tony frowns in confusion Harley's story wasn't making sense giving the facts surrounding him, he slowly makes his way around the remains being careful not to crush any of the flowers that had been left by the townspeople as he does.  
"Yeah. That doesn't make sense." He breaths out as he takes a seat on the floor next to the kid who glances at him in confusion "Think about it." He tells him before gesturing to the shadows of the people who had been killed during the explosion "Six dead. Only five shadows."

Harley nods he had noticed that as well "Yeah. People said these shadows are like the marks of the souls going to heaven. Except the bomb guy. He went to hell, on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."  
"Do you buy that?" He asks curiously because honestly he didn't believe it for a second there was more to this explosion, he just wasn't sure what.  
"It's what everyone says." Harley says before silence fills the space between the two.

Tony merely sits there thinking about Buffy and Pepper, Pepper was okay but Buffy...he could feel it someone was hurting her, it felt like someone was repeatedly hitting him with a shovel. Whoever was hurting her was close to killing her, he was running out of time to save her and that terrified him more than anything.

"You know what this crater reminds me of?"  
At Harley's question Tony frowns in confusion only to look down and realise they were actually sitting on the edge of the crater which would have been caused by the explosion.  
"No idea. I'm not...I don't care."  
Harley merely grins "That giant wormhole in, um, in New York. Does it remind you."

Tony clenches his jaw the image of his daughter screaming as he held her back forcing her to watch as her best friend died filling his head. It had been one of the worst moments of his life and if he could change spots with Willow he would.  
"That's manipulative." He says in annoyance, this was a subject he didn't want to discuss "My daughter lost her best friend that day. So I don't want to talk about it."  
Harley seems to completely ignore this and merely continues to ask questions "Are they coming back? The aliens?"  
"Maybe. Can you stop?" At his hurt look Tony sighs "Look, kid, my daughter lost one of the most important people in her life that day. She has panic attacks every time she thinks about it. So I don't want to talk about this."

"Does she have PTSD?" The kid asks more curious now then ever.  
Tony stares at him stunned to silence for a moment before shrugging "Probably."  
"Is she on medication?"  
"No."  
"Should she be?"  
Tony lets out a loud laugh "More than likely."

* * *

 _"_ _Daddy please?!" The 7-year-old birthday girl begs as she continues to grasp onto her grandfather's old motorcycle desperately wanting to go for a ride. It was just so shiny and red, but it looked sad, sitting there gathering dust had made it sad._

 _Tony pulls himself away from his designs and instantly laughs as he spots the little blonde attempting to climb onto the bike only to fall again, but she was persistent and would just get right back up again.  
_ _He sighs "Your mom will kill me. She scares me."_

 _The 7 year old Buffy giggles slightly as she plays with her pigtails while heading over to her father "Mommy's not scary."  
_ _Tony scoffs she had so much to learn "Trust me kid..." He says as he crouches down in front of her and taps her nose playfully "She's the bogeyman."_

 _Buffy's eyes widen in horror at this revelaion before she spots her favourite person walking in from behind the room "Unca Rhodey!" Buffy screams as she pulls away from her father and runs over to her God-Father who laughs as he catches her in his arms and tosses her in the air slightly only making the blonde giggle "Do it again! Do it again!"_

 _Rhodey chuckles "For the birthday girl of course!" He laughs before spinning her around.  
_ _Tony rolls his eyes "I've been replaced by a less attractive and older edition."_

 _As Rhodey lowers his niece Buffy turns and crosses her arms glaring at her father "Rhodey is awesome and not a silly stinky head."  
_ _Tony mocks hurt "I'm hurt Buff."_

 _"_ _Where's my birthday girl?" Another voice calls causing all of them to turn to Joyce as she enters the room, which instantly makes Buffy smile "Mommy!" She says happily before running over and hugging her leg._

 _Buffy pulls on her mother's sleeve drawing her attention "Mom Daddy's being Tony Stank."  
_ _Joyce chuckles while Rhodey grins "Come on Stank cheer up." He says with a smirk as he slaps Tony on the back._

 _Tony glares at his best friends before rolling his eyes "Why do the three of you always team up against me?"  
_ _"_ _Because it's easy." Buffy says happily as she moves over and hugs him tightly "Don't worry daddy I still love you."_

 _Tony smiles before picking her up resting her on his hip and he taps her chin "Love you too kiddo. But don't tell anyone I got a rep to protect."  
_ _Buffy giggles into his shoulder "You still talk funny. You're like Bam Bam."  
_ _"_ _Who?"_

 _Joyce smiles "You haven't had to suffer through the torture that is the Flintstones yet have you?"  
_ _Tony's eyes widen and he turns to his daughter with begging eyes, he really didn't want to spend the whole summer watching cartoons his brain would turn to mush "Buffy please...?"_

 _Buffy tilts her head to the side as she contemplates before slowly a mischievous grin covers her face making her look exactly like her father when he had a plan.  
_ _"_ _What you planning kid?" Tony asks curiously.  
_ _Buffy smirks before climbing down to the floor and walking over to the bike again "A deal."_

 _Rhodey smirks before fist bumping the young Stark "Like father like daughter."_

 _Tony sighs before glancing over at Joyce silently asking for permission, Joyce sighs before groaning, this one time and only this once "Fine one time because it's your birthday." She tells Buffy before raising her camera "But I want a photo of all of you."_

 _Tony's eyes widen and he immediately shakes his head "Buff lets talk about those cartoons-"  
_ _Joyce rolls her eyes "Tony get on the damn bike."  
_ _"_ _But—"  
_ _"_ _Now!"_

 _Tony mumbles his breath before climbing onto his father's bike, he picks up his daughter sitting her on his lap while Rhodey stands behind them with a smirk on his face._

 _Joyce grins at the sight before raising her camera "Say Cheese—"_

Buffy blinks slightly as her eyes slowly flutter open immediately filling with a violent light, she winces at that sight of it before sighing as she rests her head against the cold concrete floor she was laying on.  
Blinking back the tears that she could feel about to slip past her defences, summoned by the memory of her 7th birthday, Buffy decides to get back to work.

Pushing herself back up so she was leaning against the cold metal bars she wobbles slightly, she could feel herself weakening, the blood loss was getting too much now, she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to stay awake.

Groaning she glances down at the bullet which was still embedded in her arm, her leg may not be healing but if she could get the bullet out her healing should kick in which would save her a bit of time before she died of blood loss and exposure.  
Biting her lip as she realised how gross this was about to get she groans before raising her arm and beginning to suck on the wound to get the bullet out.

After what felt like an eternity the thing finally poped out and she sighed in relief when she could feel the wound slowly begin to heal, she could only wish that her healing would kick in on her leg but it had gotten too bad, hours days untouched, she wasn't sure how long she had been here.

Taking a heavy breath she leans onto her knees and grabs the matchstick keeping it out of sight as she began to sharpen the edge, this was all she had but she would make it work.


	17. Chapter 17

After running into a woman with half of her face scarred with burns on his way into the bar where he was hoping to find Chad Davis' mother Tony couldn't help but find himself more curious about what had really happened that day.

So as Chad's clearly drunk and upset mother tosses him the file he couldn't help but stare at it with interest.  
"Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it." She tells him.

Tony frowns clearly she thought he was someone else he hadn't asked for the file "Clearly, you're waiting for someone else. Huh? Supposed to meet someone here?"

Chad's mother looks at him hesitantly before nodding "Yeah." She whispers trying not to draw unnecessary attention from the group around them.

Tony ignores her stares and begins flipping through the file the letters MIA drawing his eye before he glances down at the photos.  
The minute one name filled his eyes he knew something was wrong.

 **Targget, J.**

Putting down the file he leans across the table towards the depressed woman, honestly he couldn't help but feel for her, he had gone through this when Buffy had died. The depression the drinking, the feeling that life wasn't worth living unless it was at the bottle of some bottle.  
"Your son didn't kill himself. I guarantee you, he didn't kill anyone." When she tilts her head in confusion he explains "Someone used him."  
"What?"  
"As a weapon."

At his words she lowers her voice as she leans closer "You're not the person that called me after all, are you?" She asks her voice breaking slightly, this man had just given her something she never thought she would have, hope that her son wouldn't be remembered as a terrorist, a murderer.

Suddenly a badge slams onto the middle of the table causing both Stark and Davis to pull apart and gasp.

"Actually I am." A voice causing Tony to look down at the badge spotting the name Brandt before he looked up only to frown as he spotted the woman from outside, the one with the scars on her face.

Before he could get a word in she grabs his arm and yanks him forward pinning him down face first on the table causing him to grunt and everyone in the bar to turn to them startled.

As his face hits the table and he spots the Sherrif walking over trying to intervive Tony spots Chris' military dogtags, quickly slipping them into his jacket.

Before he can do anything else cuffs lock around his wrists before he is yanked back up to his feet violently by the woman making him grunt, there was really only one strong woman that he was okay with kicking his ass and that was his daughter...this woman not so much.

As she drops him to the ground Tony grunts as he hits the floor "What am I a raggedy Anne doll?" He asks himself as he rolls onto his back.  
His eyes widen when he hears her say Homeland Security.

Something wasn't right here, he could feel it glancing over at Mrs. David who was looking at him fearfully he nods at the file making it clear for her to hide it and hide it quick.

She gulps before slipping it off the table as the Homeland Agent continues to speak to the Sheriff, she tosses it to the ground causing it to slide across the room before it slides hiding perfectly underneath a table further away, just out of sight.

Tony turns his attention back to the Agent only to spot her approaching the Sheriff, his eyes zero in on her hand and as her hand slowly begins glowing a strong orange his eyes widen, this was about to go really really bad.

Before he or anyone else could do anything the Agent grabbed his face causing him to scream in agony as the smell of burning flesh filled the room.

Tony gasps and struggles in his restraints as he spots her rip the Sheriff apart with her burning hand before grabbing his gun and shooting anyone that approached her.

Standing he makes a run for it the handcuffs still around his wrists as he legs it out of the bar, he calls out to the woman drawing her attention away from everyone else however as he runs he spots another one of whatever the hell she was climb out of a car. The man smirks at him his eyes blowing red as he approaches him.

Tony groans before running towards a window this was gonna kill in the morning he thinks before crashing through the glass window into what seemed like an old cafe. Maybe this could work to his advantage he thinks as he stands and spots a microwave before he glances at the dog tags in his pocket, this definitely could work to his advantage.

* * *

Xander watches curiously as Selene continues to circle him with the bag of salt, he really didn't like where this was going. Last time he had been the key aspect in the middle of a witchy circle all the girls in Sunnydale had done their own audition for the role of crazy psycho girlfriend.

Not a fun day.

"This isn't gonna blow me up is it? I kind like being a solid person. I don't wanna be goop."

Selene smiles sweetly at him before tucking her short raven hair behind her ear as she turns back to face him "Xander I've done this plenty of times, don't worry."

"I'm a worrier, like a big worry worryier, I worry about worrying."

Selena shakes her head in amusement before bending down onto her knees in front of the circle "Just breathe." She tells him as she grasps the photo of Buffy and her father in her palm before beginning her chant.

* * *

Tony groans as his back lands painfully on the ground after crashing into the water tower, okay maybe blowing that woman up hadn't been the smartest idea.

He hisses slightly as he clutches his now handcuff free arm before attempting to sit up, however instantly his body goes onto alert as he hears a struggle behind him.

His eyes widen in panic as he spots Harley being manhandled by the guy Tony had spotted getting out of the car when he had been running from the female flamethrower.

"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry." Harley cries as he continues to struggle in the man's arms.  
The man smirks over at Tony "No, no, no. I think he was trying to say, I want my god damn file."

Tony glares at him as a panic fills him inside as the man's hands which were wrapped around Harley begin glowing, Tony couldn't help but feel guilty, he had involved the kid in this, if anything happened to him it was his fault.

Tony looks over at the kid hoping to keep him calm "It's not your fault, kid. Remember what I told you about bullies?"

Harley's eyes widen as he remembers back to the device Tony had given him, glancing over at Stark Tony nods so Harley grabs the device from his pocket holding it towards the man holding him.

Immediately a bright light escapes the device causing the man to drop him as he falls to the ground while Harley runs for it.

"You like that Westworld?" Tony snarks at the thing or man whatever the hell he was stands and glares at the still injured Tony "That's the thing about smart guys, we always cover our ass."

However before Tony could do as he planned a large black jeep comes out of no where and hits the man sending him flying into an electrical wiring system electrocuting him.

Tony frowns "I didn't do that. Did I?" He asks himself a little unsure.

"I did Mr. Stark." A female voice says drawing his attention, Tony frowns and turns his eyes in the direction to the jeep where an Asian woman with black hair in a blue and black leather suit was standing across from him crossing her arms.

Tony groans at the sight of her "Agent May what a pleasure."

She merely stares at him with an emotionless glare, she doesn't speak as she walks over and pulls him out of the rubble he was under before leading him back towards her car.

"You're not one for talking are ya May?" He asks her curiously while she merely rolls her eyes at him.  
"Director Fury sent me to find Buffy. I found your signal instead."

Tony frowns at that, signal, what the hell did that mean "Signal? Huh now?"  
May sighs she really did not have the patience to deal with Stark right now "That's classified."  
Tony rolls his eyes, of course it was Fury and his damn secrets "Well alright then lets get the band back to gather then. Avengers Ass—"  
"No." She says flatly as she leads him towards the jeep opening the door for him to get in.

Tony frowns in confusion "Huh think I heard you wrong did you say no?"

May rolls her eyes "Do you want to hear it in Spanish, noh! As far as the world is concerned Mr. Stark you are dead. Which works in our favour. No one will expect you when we collect Buffy. Banner is a rouge card, Thor is God Knows where and Rogers is too emotionally connected so Fury put him on mission."

Tony opens his mouth to argue about how stupid this plan and Fury was when the last part of her sentence makes him freeze "Emotionally connected?! Rogers!"  
May rolls her eyes before opening the backseat and pushing Stark inside.

"Wait we have to stop at a bar!" He yells just as she slams the door in his face.

* * *

After picking up the file at the bar Tony and May were walking towards her car again when Harley runs over to them "You're welcome." He says smugly now somehow wearing a cowboy hat which made Tony arch a brow in confusion.

He shrugs before glancing back at the street ahead of him "For what? Did I miss something?"  
"Me, saving your life." The kid points out.  
"Yeah. A, I saved you first. B, thanks. Sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid don't be a yutz. All right? Just play it cool."

May sighs before glancing a the child in confusion, was he seriously involving a small child in all of this "Who is the kid?" She asks flatly refusing to let any emotion or worry enter her voice.  
Tony shrugs "My assistant."  
"I'm not you're—" Harley starts only to have Tony cut him off, yet again.  
"He's a little annoying you'll grow used to him."

May pauses in her steps and turns to Stark "He's a child, therefore a risk I am here to help you find Buffy you cannot seriously involve a child in this."

Tony merely shrugs before tapping her shoulder only to groan in pain when she grasps his wrist and twists it violently causing him to bend to his knees and cry out in pain "Don't touch me." She warns the threatening tone in her voice making him cry out in pain.  
"Ow, o wow. That hurts!"

"I know." She merely points out before releasing him before crossing her arms "Stark we don't have a lot of time, from the intel I managed to gather Buffy is likely bleeding out right about now and they will be torturing her."

Tony gulps at the sound of that, the idea of his daughter bleeding and thriving in pain filled him with fury and terror, he had only been this scared once in his life and it's not a feeling he liked revisiting because it always invoved his daughter being near-death.

He stand and clutches his now sore wrists "Best get to work then."

Tony sighs before turning to the kid who was pulling something out of his pocket, Tony's eyes widen at the sight of it "Where'd you get that?" He asks gesturing to the photo of Buffy and Joyce on the blonde's 15th birthday. God that had been a sucky day, he had realised he was so screwed if anyone found out about her cause then they would realise how old he was. Even though they most probably knew already he liked to pretend that they didn't.

Harley shrugs "Found it." He says before gazing at the smiling blonde "She's pretty." Tony rolls his eyes before grabbing the photo "That's mine and..." he looks at the kid once more before glancing at the photo again "She's a bit old for you. But you're better than the old man she's been spending all her time with."

May rolls her eyes before climbing into the jeep this man got distracted way too easily "Mr. Stark!"  
"Coming honey!" He calls before turning to Harley "I need you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit, and stay connected to the telephone. Because if I call, you better pick up. Okay?" Tony pauses "Can you feel that? We're done here. Move out of the way or tiny assassin here is gonna run you over."

Harley glances over at May who had put on her sunglasses "You are awesome." He tells her while she offers him a small smile.  
Tony gasps "The ice queen has smiled. Everyone run we're all gonna die."

May losses the smile instantly and glares at Stark "Put your seatbelt on."  
Tony rolls his eyes at the Agent "Geez mom God."

Before she could drive off though a loud crashing noise came from behind Harley, both of them turned their heads onto to frown as the spot a shivering Xander Harris now crouched in the middle of the road before standing and pumping his fist in the air "That was totally Terminator bitch!" He pauses and looks around the destruction before pouting "Oh did I miss it?"

Tony pauses and glances at May "Give me a second."

"Stark!" May yells but before she could stop him he climbed out of the car and walks towards his least favourite of Buffy's friends.

Xander groans he really hated portal travel it made him queazy. Sighing his eyes widen in relief when he spots Tony walking towards him "Mr. Stark thank Go—"  
Xander is cut off as he head goes swinging to the side, it took him a moment to process the fact that Stark had actually just punched him in the face. And damn Buffy did get her right hook from her dad.

Xander winces and clutches his sore jaw "I take it your still pissed about—"

"Many things. I got many bones to pick with you doof." He hisses before grabbing Xander by the ear ignoring the moans of the boy as he shoves him into the car before climbing back into the front seat.

Xander groans in annoyance, maybe this hadn't exactly been the best idea, he lies in the backseat for a moment before sitting up as he does he spots a familiar face in the driver's seat. It was that Agent lady that Buffy brought to Sunnydale that one time. Man she was hot.

"I know you!" He almost yells too excited.  
May glares at Xander through the rearview mirror making him sink back into the backseat in fear.  
He gulps before nodding "Never mind I don't know you."

"Good." She says flatly before speeding the car down the highway sending Xander flying across the backseat which caused Tony to laugh. May couldn't help but sigh in annoyance, she was in hell.

* * *

"Anything in that file?" Xander asks as he leans forward from the backseat only to have Tony push his head back causing him to hit the backseat again.

Tony sighs as he glances at the file, there was something here he could feel it, something in there was going to help him find Buffy, to find the people who had hurt Buffy.

May glances over at the file as she drives before grabbing a page off Tony ignoring his protects "Shut up." She says harshly causing both men to nod.  
Tony sighs "You're scary then the Widow."

"She lost her Russian edge." May merely tells them before frowning at the letters MIA on the top of the paper. She scoffs before tossing the paper at Tony "Turn it over."  
Tony frowns before turning to page his eyes widening **A-I-M.**

May sighs before turning back to focus on the road, as she does the car begins beeping.  
Xander jumps at the noise "What the hell in all that is Star Wars is that?"  
"Are you an adult?" She couldn't help but ask the giant man-child that was Xander.  
Xander frowns in confusion "Umm, yes. No? I think so."

May growls slightly "It's an alert from Shield..." She says before tapping the screen beside the steering wheel "...The President has sent the Iron Patriot to a remote location in Pakistan. The Mandarin sent another message."

Tony groans in annoyance "Stupid Iron Patriot. War Machine was well better." He mutters under his breath before grabbing the phone he had stolen off the fire breathers body earlier and bringing it to his ear.

" _Hello?"_ A very annoyed and clearly out of breath voice asks.  
Tony sighs "You ever had a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?"

"Yes." Xander answers only earning looks off both May and Tony, he shrinks back "My last date. Not that that matters. I'll just shut up now."

Tony sighs before turning his attention back to his phone call as the person on the other end of the line answers _"Yeah, I've had that. Who is this?"  
_

May turns to him with a glare, they could be tracking that phone "Hang up the phone Stark."

"Sweetheart I'm on a conference call." He says sarcastically before turning back to the phone "It's me, pal. Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?"

Tony smiles as he could practically hear the grin cover Rhodey's face _"A little knock-and-talk, making friends in Pakistan as I look for my niece. What are you doing?"  
_ Tony scoffs "Nice to know the blonde has replaced me in your heart pal. Your redesign, your big rebrand, that was AIM, right?"  
 _"Yeah."_ Rhodey answers his voice laced in confusion.

Tony growls slightly before scrunching up the paper and tossing it into the backseat "I'm gonna so heavy duty, comm. Sat with me right now. I need your log in."  
 _"It's the as it's always been, WarMachine68."  
_ "And password, please."  
 _"Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony."_

Tony rolls his eyes as he taps the shield screen accessing the server inside, when May glares at him he sighs "It'll help." He hisses causing her to sigh, if she didn't care about Buffy she would have just knocked him unconscious by now but she needed his help, so despite her better judgement she unhooked the iPad type screen from the car and tosses it at him allowing him to use it easier.

Tony smirks before bringing up what he needed on the screen "It's not the 80's nobody says hack anymore. Give me your login."  
Rhodey sighs heavily _"WAR MACHINE ROX with an X all caps."_

At his words Tony bursts out in laughter that had really brightened up his day _"Yeah okay."_ Rhodey says in annoyance.  
"That is so much better than Iron Patriot." He says before turning to May "Turn here."  
May does a hard right sending the car skidding before she follows directions Tony gives her.


	18. Chapter 18

Buffy's eyes widen as she hears alarms begin pounding loudly filling the room, quickly moving into the corner of her cell her eyes begin scanning over the mass of guards beginning to enter the room, all of them moving towards her cell.

Buffy clenches her jaw slightly, it was now or never because it looked like whatever they were planning to do with her was about to begin. Leaning her head onto her knee as she crouches on the floor she quickly pulls the now sharpened match stick from her mouth and pushes it into her hair out of sight.

As she hears her cell door yanked open, she turns towards the guards, who now had rifles aimed at her head. For being the daughter of the owner of one of the world's largest weapons companies she really hated guns.

"Hands up!" Several guards order so Buffy quickly raises her hands above her head watching the men, calculating their movements.

The three main guards who were standing in her cell were moving around her caustiously, "Watch out for the legs, she fractured the last guy's neck." One of the guards whispers to the others while Buffy blinks innocently.

"Can we hurry this along guys?" She asks sweetly "I could really use a shower, or you know some dry shampoo, or hell how about some water, I'm real parched."

"Shut up." One of the guard hisses at the blonde before nodding at his men "Take her."

Buffy rolls her eyes before noticing one of the guards reaching out a hesitant hand towards her wrist.

Waiting and waiting she bides her time until finally his hand makes contact with her wrist, throwing her other hand forward she grasps his wrists and yanks his arm out of the socket causing him to cry out in agony.

Buffy pulls on his arm again till she hears the dreaded snap, trying not to wince in guilt she quickly panics as she hears guns being clocked and fingers moving over triggers. Grabbing onto the injured guard she quickly manoeuvres him in front of her so that he takes the upload of bullets that were about to hit her.

His body shakes as bullets pierce his skin, Buffy groans as she feels blood spill over her hands but she doesn't take a second to glance down as she tosses his now lifeless body at a nearby guard.

Spotting another guard moving towards her Buffy's eyes widen, stepping forward she throws herself into a handstand wrapping her ankles around the guards neck as her legs fly towards him.

Pulling her body upwards she yanks the match from her hair and as the guard begins to stumble from her sudden weight on top of him she drives the match into his neck.

As his coughs violently on his own blood she grasps his head in her hands and slams his head against the ground before she grabs his gun and stands.

Loading the gun she begins firing at the guards approaching her, she winces slightly as bullets fly through the room, maybe she wasn't the best with a gun.  
Rolling her eyes in annoyance she kicks the almost dead guard she had rendered unconscious through the air knocking down three more guards.

Firing her gun again she begins shooting guards in the kneecaps before slamming their faces into the ground.

Running out of her large metal cell Buffy limps through the large room and ducks behind a nearby wall as bullets reign around her, more and more guards being called in as alarms began pounding louder and louder through the room.

Buffy winces as she peaks around the room only to feel a bullet graze her cheek, groaning her hair swishes around her as she quickly hides behind the wall again.

Buffy groans in annoyance as she attempts to shoot a few more guards only for her bullets to continue to go wide, as she ducks again she slams her head against the wall in annyance "Great, daughter of a weapons developer and I shoot like a goddamn Stormtropper."

Buffy takes a deep breath before running across the hall, just narrowly managing to miss the bullets that were flying past her head, running as fast as she can she leaps up past the staircase and grasps onto the railing of the next floor flipping over it and landing on her feet.

Not waisting a beat she makes her move again running forward weaving through the dark halls as she looked for some form of exit, however as she turned the next corner a fist connects with her chest sending her flying off her feet before crashing over the railing and falling to the ground below.

Buffy winces as her body connects with the hard concrete before she feels her body somehow raise from the ground.

Her vision blurry she attempts to look at the figure approaching her in a long black cloak but suddenly the figure raises their hand and Buffy crashes into the back wall, her head smashing violently into the concrete finally knocking her out.

Heels click along the now silent prison type concrete hall, every injured guard goes silent forgetting about their injuries to bow at the figure approaching the unconscious Slayer.

"I almost forgot how good she was." Lilth breaths as she stares at the figure from her past life with an emotionless face. As she stared at the face of the bloody brusied blood she felt nothing, no emotion, no connection to the girl that had been Willow Rosenberg's best friend.

Grinning slightly she turns towards the men bowed at her feet before turning to Marcus who was standing behind her, the smile falling from her face instantly "You left her with humans you dimwitted idiot."

Marcus opens his mouth to speak but Lilith merely raises her hand silencing him as she causes him to begin gasping for breath "You may be the Wolf Ram and Hart favourite toy but understand this moose I will snap your neck like a twig without a second thought. I ripped out a woman's heart yesterday because she messed up my nails. You and your men almost lost me my Avenger. I need her to get the others."

Sighing she releases him allowing him to drop to the ground gasping for breath while she walks right by him "Deal with our blonde guest and then pet..." She pauses in her steps before turning to look at him over her shoulder "...we're going to pay a visit to your bosses. I have a few choice words for them."

With that she leaves the room and the guards all begin moaning in pain again, the terrifying presence of the devil gone.

Marcus clenches his jaw before moving towards the unconscious Slayer and lifting her up into his arms, knowing they would have to restrain her somewhere else now.

* * *

"Mr. Stark." Xander continues to nag as himself, Tony and May all move quietly move around the hectic area towards the news van ahead of them.  
Tony rolls his eyes as Buffy's friend continues to pester him "Not now eyepatch."

Xander groans in annoyance while May merely rolls her eyes at the two men before holding out her arm in front of them both blocking them from moving any further.  
"Stay here." She orders before making a move towards the van.

Tony's eyes shoot up into his forehead, there was no way in hell he was just gonna sit back "Hey now little ninja woman—"

Tony cuts himself off as May turns around to face him an angry look on his face that made him gulp, man she was scary, he really couldn't understand why Buffy liked her so much but then again both women had the unflinching ability to terrify him "Staying here, yep just gonna stay...right here."

May growls in annoyance before making her way towards the news van in the corner, coming up behind one of the men near the van she wraps an arm around his neck cutting off his circulation.

As he struggles May couldn't help but sigh, she couldn't believe that she had agreed to do this, how the hell Stark had managed to talk her into this was beyond her.  
As the man passes out, the small agent moves his now unconscious body out of sight before making her way inside the small van.

As she begins going through the computer screens she hears metal creak behind her, without hesitation the former field agent quickly pulls out her gun and turns it on the intruder only to sigh in annoyance at the sight of an arguing Xander and Tony both of them trying to push themselves into the van.

"You have got to be kidding me." She moans in annoyance before stepping forward and yanking them both by the ear into the van and slamming the door behind them.

At her unimpressed look both men gulp before Tony sighs "Look Millie—"  
May's face hardens "Don't ever call me that."  
Tony sighs "Whatever." He moans before gesturing to the computers "Figured I'd be quicker."  
May sighs before rolling her eyes "Do it now."

Tony grins before moving around the brooding agent and turning towards the laptop on the desk.

As his fingers begin to fly over the keys the metal door clicks again and as a young man begins to open the door May instantly yanks him by the collar of his jacket and pins him to the wall.  
"May!" Xander exclaims in shock while May rolls her eyes.  
May ignores Xander while turning to the now pale white man "What are you doing here?"

"Me! I work here!" He exclaims before gulping "And you are extremely terrifying."

Tony chuckles slightly before tapping May on the shoulder "Come on Millie...no need for violence Star Power has it's advantages."

Tony grins before spinning around in his chair to face the man May still had pinned to the wall before opening his arms as though to bow, with a massive grin on his face.

Slowly the man's eyes widen losing the fear only to be filled with excitement "Something magical is happening." He breaths as May scoffs and releases him, she was really missing her office right now.

As he is released the man instantly begins fan-girling over the famous man in front of him, the scary woman to his side who had just threatened him now forgotten "Oh—oh my God...Iron Man...Tony Stark is in my van!"

May glares at him as the man practically yells, he was drawing too much attention, someone outside was going to hear them "Stark!" She hisses causing Tony to nod before turning back to the still excited man "No, he's not."

Xander arches a brow and turns to May "Did he seriously think that would work?"  
"Wouldn't surprise me." May sighs before giving Tony a threatening glare.  
The man who had yet to notice the tension in the room continues to yammer on excitedly "I knew you were still alive!"

May groans before glaring at the idiot "Be quiet or I'm going to fracture your larynx."  
The guy instantly silences causing Xander to let out a long whistle "That was excellent."  
"I know." May says fighting a small grin before she crossing her arms and returns to her empty facade.

The man gulps before turning back to Tony as though waiting for permission to speak, when Tony gives him a brief nod the guy grins "Okay, Um...Mr Stark..."  
"Yep." Tony confirms waiting for him to get his point across.  
"I am your biggest fan."  
Tony sighs "First, is this your van? Is anyone else gonna come in?"  
"No, no, no. Just us."

Tony nods before glancing over at May who gives him an identical look. Tony grins slightly before standing and making his way towards the man in front of him "Great. What's your name?" He asks as he holds out his hand towards the fanboy.

"Gary." Gary stutters out as he shakes Tony's hand, he couldn't believe it, he was actually shaking Iron Man's hand... _the iron man._

May sighs as she watches the two converse, they didn't have time for this, Buffy was still out there with God knows what being done to her "Stark, we're on a timetable."  
Tony clears his throat letting his ego go slightly as the thought of his daughter and the danger she was in settles back into his head "Right right, on it."

Tony groans at the sight of his face tattooed badly on Gary's arm before holding the man's arms drawing his attention "Look Gary, I don't want to clip your wings, here. We're both a little over-excited. And the misses is getting temperamental." He says gesturing to May who clenches her fist, he winces, she was totally gonna punch him later.

Ignoring the thought of his future black eye Tony focuses back on Gary "I got an issue. We're chasing bad guys. We need to grab something from some hard-crypt data files. I don't have enough juice. I need you to jump on the roof...right? Recalibrate the ISDNs. Pump it up by about 40%."

Gary merely continues to stare at Tony mesmerized "Got it."

"All right? It's a mission."  
"Yeah."  
"Tony needs Gary." Tony tells him before glaring at Xander who chuckled under his breath, sighing he turns back to Gary wanting to roll his eyes at the stunned look on the man's face.

"And Gary needs Tony." Gary breaths still stunned causing Tony to no at the young man "Be quiet about it. Go."

* * *

As Gary works on the roof Tony sits on the chair in front of the laptop while May and Xander stand behind him.  
The three of them watch as Tony goes into Rhodey's account and begins bringing up the files from the AIM server.

As Tony flips through the files May stares at the people on screen before she glances at Tony who's face had fallen at the sight of a red head with one arm "Is that the woman who attacked you?"

Tony nods at her before pointing at the screen just as the man who was currently destroying his life appeared on screen "And that is Aldrich Killian."

 _"_ _You are the next iteration of human evolution."_ The three hear Killian monologue as he speaks to the test subjects on the footage.

Tony sighs before his fingers fly across the keyboard again before landing on project Extremis.

Opening up another clip Tony's eyes widen as he spots someone he regonises.

"Oh my God." Xander breathes as he stares at the young brunette on screen who's blood was being taken and injected into the volunteers for the project.  
May frowns at the look on both of their faces "What? Who is she?"

Xander clenches his jaw slightly burying any emotion as he stares at the familiar figure "Kennedy. She is...was one of my Slayers." Xander breaths out sadly as the memory of what had happened to her hit him, he hadn't had the heart to tell Buffy but before Faith had been attacked and before the girls had lost their power several of the Slayers had gone missing.

The last of which had been Kennedy before her body had shown up on their doorstep a few weeks ago, completely drained of blood.

"For the past few months Slayer's...their bodies have been showing drained of blood, but no marks from vampires or anything demonic. Kennedy was the last one, she went missing right after Willow died, when the girls started losing their powers.."

May eyes' widen at his words before the reality of what he was saying hit her "Their using the blood, Slayer blood has healing properties, but then why would they still combust...?"

"Because magic and science don't work well together." Tony informs her "Aldrich is killing these girls, draining them for their power but he's playing with magic, trying to use science to bend it to his will."

Xander nods in agreement with his statement before filling May in on the rest "Slayer's aren't born with their power, yes their blood is powerful but it can't be transferred, maybe their healing can be for short periods of time but it won't last, the Slayer essence won't last long outside of the host it's intended for."

As Xander speaks thoughts begin to plague Tony, ideas and horrors scanning through his brain "Buffy's the last Slayer." He reminds the other two beside him "But not just that, she's the last of the original line. The last one to be the only one. She's special."

Xander nods "it's true she's always been stronger than the other girls, and when they gained their power she got stronger than ever before. Selene kept an eye on Buffy's strength levels since everything and when the Slayers started losing their power, her power grew again. No Slayer has ever been as powerful as Buffy is right now. Right now Buffy has no idea just how powerful she is."

May clenches her jaw, worry for the young girl who she would never admit she cared for, filling her "He thinks she's the key to making these soilders."

Tony's eyes widen before he turns back to the screen and watches as the tests subjects begin combusting in on themselves while Kennedy cried out in pain before collapsing on the ground no longer breathing.

Tony clenches his jaw as his fingers fly over the screen again before to his horror he finds the file of all the Slayer's that had been tested.

Xander gasps in horror while May's eyes widen, there were at least 30 names there, all with the words deceased and failed experiment written next to them.

"I don't even recognise some of these names." Xander says quietly as he realises that somehow Killian had been finding Slayers before the Slayer Organisation could get to them and help.

Finally an image of Buffy fills the screen, she was lying on the ground in a large cell, blood covering majority of one side of her body, the bone practically sticking out of her leg as blood dripped from her forehead and brusies marked her face.

Tony lets out a horrified gasp his hands clenching and tears falling down his cheeks.

May looks at the photo completely frozen, water filling her eyes in horror, Buffy looked like she was knocking on death's door.

"We don't have long now." Xander breaths as he sniffles slightly hating having to look at his best friend in such a state.

Tony gulps and closes his eyes before glaring at the picture of Aldrich on the other screen "You kidnap my daughter, torture her, leave her half dead and use her as an experiment, what's the play pal?" Tony clicks his fingers burying the crushing weight on his heart as he forced himself not to look at the image of his daughter again "The stuff doesn't always work. Right pal? It's faulty, but you think you the cure. So you found a buyer. Sold it to the Mandarin. I'm gonna kill and you."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying the story so far please do continue to comment and let me know what you think, also check out my YouTube Channel Kit Summers, I have been uploading some vids for this story and Buffy's New Home. I just uploaded a Trailer for this story and will be uploading one for Part 3 _ Avengers Assemble.**

 **Check out - Kit Summers - Code Name Slayer - Iron Man 3 Trailer**

 **xx**


	19. Chapter 19

"You can't be too hard on yourself, Maya." Pepper tells the brunette woman she was slowly bonding with, as they sit in the small hotel room they had decided to hide in.

After hearing Maya's story about Killian the strawberry blonde couldn't help but feel for her "I mean, you gave your research to a think tank."  
Maya shakes her head not willing to take the other woman's sympathy "Yeah, but Killian built that think tank on military contracts."

Pepper shrugs slightly "That's exactly what we used to do. So, don't judge yourself. It took Buffy coming back into his life and almost dying for Tony to finally get out of weapons dealing."

Maya's face falls for an instant at the sound of Buffy's name, making Pepper frown but she waves it off as Maya begins asking her a question "His daughter, you're close with her?"

Pepper smiles fondly as she thinks of the small blonde she had come to think of as her own, the underlying guilt and worry for her evident on her face "I may have only met her when she was 17 but Buffy is the closest thing I have to a daughter and I know Tony will find her."

Pepper feels water filling her eyes, quickly she wipes at her eyes chuckling softly to herself as she does, she couldn't believe she was crying right now, now wasn't the time, she needed to be strong.

Luckily for her there was a knock at the door, standing she moves to the door and sighs in relief at the sight of the room service food she had ordered.  
Opening the door for the young man she offers him a small smile "Hi good evening. Come on in."

As he moves to follow her in she turns away from the door and walks further into the room, as she turns back to face him however she is horrified by the sight of Aldrich Killian coming up behind the poor boy and snapping his neck.

A horrified gasp leaves her lips before she moves to run "Maya run!" Pepper screams as she attempts to make her escape only for Killian to grab her arm and slam her against the wall, before wrapping a hand around her throat.

"Hi Pepper."

As Pepper struggles for breath her eyes widen in horror as Maya approaches Killian who was looking at her with an annoyed expression "So you want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion last night?"

Maya looks at him with tears in her eyes as her face fills with desperation "I'm trying to fix this thing. I didn't know you and the master were gonna blow the place up."

Pepper's eyes widen as she listens to Maya, they had planned this, she had planned this, she wanted Tony and they were gonna use her and Buffy to get what they want.

* * *

"We're keeping her sedated." Marcus tells Lilith as she enters the room her long black gown following her as she walks across the cold stone room towards the large screens where images of the blonde vampire slayer chained up to a wall filled her vision.

She watches in interest as the blonde attempts to wake only for the sedative to re-enter her system sending her back to sleep, slowly her eyes fall to the blood soaked make shift bandage on the Slayer's leg.

Her eyes frown at the sight of it "How long has she been like that?"  
"Since she's been here." Marcus says with a small chuckle, enjoying the fact that the Slayer was hurt beyond repair "You saw what she was capable of with the injury we didn't see point in risking a full powered Slayer ruining our plans."

Lilith nods in understand before she begins pacing, thoughts running through her brain as she thinks of the blonde Slayer "She's stronger than the last."

Marcus nods, it seemed as though every Slayer they had experimented on had been weaker than this one, she had been the only one to make it this far "She is the last of the Chosen Line, the senior partners seem to think it means she will always be stronger. Rumour has it she gains strength when Slayer's are called and when they die she gets that strength. I doubt she knows that though."

Lilith nods and continues to stare at the figure from her past life, a life she barely remembered, she had flickers of the blonde and a brunette boy but other than that there was nothing but darkness. The darkness and the aether.

"Keep an eye on my Slayer." She says darkly as her eyes flash red, she needed to focus on her mission, she couldn't let a past life try and distract her.  
"What about you?" Marcus asks drawing her attention, she swings her head back to face him, her eyes darkening slightly "I need to speak to your bosses. But first I need to have a word with our pet human."

* * *

"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report." Tony says as he speaks with Harley on the phone while May drives the new jeep they had stolen; Xander sits in the back on the phone to Selene.

At that sound of the kid's name May's eyes widen, she couldn't believe he was willingly involving a child in all of this "Put it on speaker." She orders him.  
Tony rolls his eyes before putting the phone on speaker "Of course sweetheart."

When May glares at him, Tony rolls his eyes "What would you rather me call you?...Oh I know how about...The Calvary."

Suddenly May's foot slams onto the break causing both men to slam their heads painfully, Tony's on the dashboard and Xander's on the front seat.  
May slowly turns to face the billionaire genius, and in that moment he could not have felt more stupid as she glared at him with murderous eyes.

"Look May..." He tries only for her to grab the back of his head and slam it against the dashboard again.

When he cries out in agony and turns to look at her in shock she merely glares at him "Don't ever call me that." She threatens flatly before she continues driving while both men stare at her in terror.

 _"_ _Did I just miss something awesome?"_ Harley asks having heard the commotion, and the disappointment in his voice made it very clear that he was upset having missed the live show.  
Tony rolls his eyes "No. Now report?"  
 _"_ _Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?"  
_ Xander pouts slightly "What candy? I didn't get any candy."

Tony rolls his eyes "Shh." He orders Buffy's friend before turning his attention back to the phone call "How much have you had?" He asks Harley sounding very fatherly in that moment.  
 _"_ _Two or three bowls."_

May turns her gaze to Tony with a disapproving glare "How much did you give him?" She hisses before sighing "Harley can you still see straight?"  
There is a pause on the other side of the line _"Sort of."_

Tony glances over at the astonishment May and merely flashes her a bright smug smile "See he's fine. You worry too much."  
May merely glances over at him in shock, how he had managed to end up with a daughter like Buffy with these parenting skills was beyond her "Why did you ever have children?" She couldn't help but ask.

Tony merely shrugs "I was 20 and drunk." He tells her honestly before shrugging "Plus whenever Buffy ate too much candy she was fine. Unless he collapses in a fit he'll be fine. Maybe a little dizzy."  
May glares at him before slamming his head against the steering wheel again causing him to cry out in pain and annoyance "Woman you gotta stop hitting me!" He yells before glaring back at Xander who was laughing softly "Can it worm."

Xander sighs "You know Mr. Stark I get your still pissed about what happened about the whole bringing Buffy back thing..."

Tony scoffs "And the leaving her in a coffin, the pushing her back to her 'job' when I took her to New York and oh wait...kicking her out of her house. A house she owned!"  
Xander quivers slightly finding himself unable to respond to that because everything he had said was fair, so instead of fighting back he sinks back into his chair.

Tony grins before focusing on the phone again "All right kid, give me Jarvis..." There is a pause "Jarvis how are we?"

 _"_ _It's Totally fine, sir."_ The familiar voice says making Tony smile so glad that his A.I was still up and kicking _"I seem to do well for a stretch but then at the end of a sentence I say the wrong cranberry."_

Tony, May and Xander all raise eyebrow at that, clearly the A.I program was damaged slightly.

Both May and Xander glance at Tony waiting for him to reassure them that he had a backup plan but he merely shrugged "It's fine." He assures them sounding a little unsure himself.  
 _"_ _And, sir, you were right."  
_ Xander groans at Jarvis' words "Please don't grow his ego."

 _"_ _Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities, I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal."_

Tony's eyes widen, hope filling him for a split second as the reality that he was getting closer to saving his daughter hit him, soon he would get her out of where they were keeping her. And she was going on lockdown so he could protect her, sure she wouldn't argue but he would find a way to convince her that never leaving the house again was a great idea.

"What are we talking?" He asks Jarvis eagerly "Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it? Where is she?"  
 _"_ _I cannot speak for where Buffy is but the signal...sir, it's in Miami."_

Tony frowns at that, that couldn't be possible "Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis's speech drive, but not right now. Harley where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where my kid is."

There is a pause as Harley moves his fingers across the computer, his fingers pressing on the keys causing them to make soft noices. Finally after what felt like forever the boy answers his question "Um, it does say Miami, Florida."

Tony groans something felt off here, how could she have been right under his nose this whole time "Okay, first things, first, I need the armour. Where are we at with it?"

"Uh, it's not charging."  
Tony groans at that "You have got to be kidding me."  
 _"_ _Actually sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalising the Mark 42."_

* * *

Buffy blinks softly finding it difficult to force her eyes open, her whole body was telling her to stay asleep but she knew deep down that this may be her last chance to wake up again. Her body was shutting down, she could feel it. Honestly though she was surprised she had survived this long, her body should have crashed the second she got shot, maybe she was stronger than she thought.

Taking a shaky breath as the pain from her side and her leg fills her thoughts, she blinks again before her eyes widen in panic. Instead of a large cell in the middle of a large hall they had gone with a different approach to her torture now.

Instead of a large area that allowed her to breath she was now trapped in a tight cramped space, she was chained to the ground with a needle in her arm.  
The small concrete room was so cramped she barely had space to move her legs, slowly her breathing picks up in a panic.

She couldn't be in this cramped space, it was too much, it reminded her too much of her coffin, of her attempts to claw for life.

At the thought of her coffin Buffy begins to panic more as thoughts of who had brought her back run through her mind.

Willow.

Her mind fills with images of her best friend, of New York, of that portal. Slamming her head against the wall as her breathing begins to come shallow.

Her fists clench, her nails digging into the skin of her palms as she tries to calm herself but those images, the image of her best friend going into the portal, the image of clawing her own way out of her grave wouldn't stop.

Her breathing slowly becomes erratic as she finds herself unable to breath, she knew she was having a panic attack, she had had enough of them in the past year to recognise the feeling. However, this time was different. Her dad had been her anchor for the past year and without him she felt like she was going to crumble.

Suddenly a broken sob escapes her as she finally remembers the fact that he was gone, he was dead and she was alone.

Tears drop down her cheeks as she sobs softly to herself, she had no one left anymore.

Closing her eyes tightly as she feels her chest tighten she tries to remember anything, anything that could calm her down.

 _"_ _Buffy breathe!" Tony exclaims as she holds onto his sobbing daughter who's screams in her sleep had woken him in a panic, her breathing was coming out shallow and panicked and it was terrifying him more than anything._

 _Pulling his arms away from her slightly he cups her cheeks in his hands forcing her to look at him with her tear stained face "Buff, listen to me, you're having a panic attack! You need to breathe!"_

 _Buffy gasps loudly before shaking her head refusing to look at her father as tears continue to roll down her now red face "I—I can't..." She gasps out finding herself unable to breathe properly._

 _Tony sighs sadly tilting his head to the side as his face fills with sorrow, he hated that his daugher was suffering like this, he wish he could turn back the clock to that day in New York a few weeks ago and take her best friend's place._

 _"_ _Buffy listen to me..." He tells her softly forcing her to look at him "...You are so strong, you are the strongest person I know and you will survive this."_ _When she continues to shake her head refusing to believe him, he smiles softly at her "Buffy I need you to listen to me, Willow is gone yes but she loved you. You were her best friend and she wanted to protect you."_

 _Buffy shakes her head and attempts to pull away from her father "No—no—I can't—I can't—it hurts—it's hurts—please make it stop..."  
_ _As she continues to sob Tony wraps his arms around her stroking her hair softly, Buffy lets out another gasping breath as she leans into her father's chest "I don't have anyone anymore."_

 _"_ _You have me." He tells her as he kisses the top of her head "You have me Buff and I'm not going anywhere. Ever."_


	20. Chapter 20

Lilith walks through the stunning halls of the mansion, turning the corner towards the room where the Mandarian was being kept she rolls her eyes as she strolls into the room.

"Really?" She asks as she spots the two women laid in the bed beside him.

The Mandarin's eyes widen in fear as he spots her and he immediately drops to his knees at her feet "Ma'am."

Lilith scoffs before placing a foot on his chest and forcing him to the ground, crouching down beside him she grins "I like you." She tells him with a evil grin on her face "You know who you belong to...and who you worship. Now where is he?"  
The Mandarin raises a shaky hand before pointing through the double doors.

Lilith grins before placing a soft kiss to his cheek "Thank you." She tells him with a darker tone to her voice, more flirtatious than usual but also more threatening, the sound of her voice sent a terrifying chill down the Mandarin's spine.  
Lilith grins as she spots him shaking in fear, his body almost convulsing in on itself.

Sighing she moves through the double doors at the end of the hall.

At her command the double doors slam open allowing her to make a dramatic entrance, as the noise of the doors slamming causes everyone to jump in shock immediately all eyes that laid on her filled with fear.

Lilith grins at the sight, she loved knowing these people feared her more than anyone else.

Raising her hand she allows the red aether to escape from her fingers before it begins circling around the guards "Where is the blonde idiot?"

"Lilith." A confident arrogant voice says cheerfully causing Lilith to arch her eye brows only to roll her eyes in annoyance as she spots Aldrich Killian walking towards her with a smug grin on his face.

Scoffing slightly she sends the red mist towards him sending him flying backwards into the wall as the red mist wraps around his neck, suffocating him, causing him to claw desperately for breath.

Moving towards him her heels click along the ground, the mere sound sending waves of power around the room, everyman begins cowering at her feet submitting to her.  
Grinning slightly at his terrified expression she moves closer to him the red mist tightening around his throat with every step she takes.

"Killian..." She says softly as she looks him in the eye her back eyes flashing red "...I hear that you did not do as I asked."  
Killian gulps fear running through his face as he stares into the eyes of the powerful goddess "Lilith I—"

"Did I say you could speak?" She asks as she twists her hand causing the mist to tighten once again this time drawing blood from his neck.

When he gasps in pain before nodding in submission she smiles "Stark is alive. You had one job Mr. Killian and yet that billionare playboy is still breathing."

She pauses for a moment before dragging a finger across his cheek causing the flesh to burn brightly and Killian to cry out in agony "We had to toss our first Mandarin in a cell because he didn't like taking orders from a woman, he's now in a straight jacket. So just a warning, if I did that to him what do you think I will do to you? Fail me again and you may just see."

* * *

"Where's Stark?" May asks Xander as she drops her suitcase on to mattress of the motel the three of them had pulled into. Only for Tony to announce he was taking off moments later and would be back later.

Xander shrugs slightly unsure as to where Buffy's father had taken off too "Beats me Starks have a habit of taking off without a word. Holy crap—" He stutters out in shock as May opens her suitcase, which seemed to be filled with such high tech equipment all covered in SHILED labels "I figured for a secret organisation they wouldn't have their super secret symbol on like...everything." he says gesturing to the water bottle, which even had the symbol on it.

May nods as she grabs a bag of knives and begins sharpening them, as she does Xander frowns as he realises exactly one thing he would have expected to see in an Agents weapon's case "No Gun?"  
"If I need a gun I'll take one." She says simply before twirling one of the knifes in her grasp.

Xander smiles at the Agent before suddenly the room door is slammed open and standing there with about 20 bags in his hands in Stark. Grinning like a bad men he holds up the bags "Time for Arts and Crafts Children."

May rolls her eyes "Oh dear God."

* * *

Miami, Florida

Buffy stares at the ceiling as she is wheeled through the long halls of what she was assuming was a mansion, pulling at her binds as she is wheeled through the halls she cries out in agony as they push her through a set of double doors causing her leg to be jarred painfully.

When one of the guards chuckles Buffy glares up at them "I'm gonna enjoy turning your head into a bowling ball."  
"Good luck with that girly."

Before she could get another word in her bed is forced to a stop, feeling a warm liquid begin spreading around her blood she clenches her jaw as her body attempts to fall into slumber.

A now half coherent Slayer is ripped from her bed causing her to drop to the ground, crying out she spits out the blood filling her mouth as she feels her injuries opening up again.

Groaning she attempts to fight back as two guards yank her body up but she was too weak, she could feel some form of magic making it's way through her system, most probably why their new way of keeping her down was working better now.

Groaning two large metal balls are placed around her hands before two cover her feet as well, hissing out in pain she suddenly finds herself hovering over the floor, with some form of electricity causing her to hover like star fish in a circular type cell.

"Seriously, how many times did you watch The Incrediables?" She asks Killian as he strolls into the room while she gestures to her trap which literally looked like it had stepped foot right out of the animation film.

"Come on Syndrome..." She taunts as blood continues to drip down her forehead "What else you got, another antagonizing monologue that's gonna make me pray for death just so that I don't have to listen to your Minnie mouth voice anymore?"

Killian clenches his jaw before letting out a harsh laugh and looking at her with a small smile "Miss Stark you need to understand your place in all of this. You are helping creating a new world. You're life will give birth to a new species."

"Remind me why I'm supposed to give a shit again?" She asks playing up her dumb blonde role, only making him smile at her.  
"There's someone who would like to meet you, someone from head office."

Buffy rolls her eyes at that and turns her head to focus on the man entering the room, he was tall and wearing a fitted grey suit.

"What's with the suit?" She asks curiously only for the man in the suit to smile at her while Killian leaves the room.

Buffy groans in annoyance only to glare at the woman in hospital scrubs moving towards her with a needle "I don't think so. If you're looking for a blood donation you're talking to the wrong gal."  
The woman sighs before forcing the needle into Buffy's arm while Buffy struggles against the electricity but as she does bursts of electricity shoot through her entire body causing her to scream loudly as her body convulses.

"Are you finished Miss Stark?" Marcus asks with a smile as he stands by the controls, turning down the electrical current so the blonde was no longer shaking.  
Buffy takes a gasping breath before glaring at the man in front of her, but she merely nods her head.  
Marcus grins before moving towards the blonde "The Senior Partners talk very highly of you." He tells her as he paces in front of her.

At his words Buffy's eyes widen "Wait you're..."  
"From Wolfram and Hart. I believe your ex-beloved would have mentioned me."

Buffy glares at him at the mention of Angel "He said you were dead."

"Yes for a time." Marcus says simply as if it were no big deal before continuing "Although I did get him back in that respect."

At his words Buffy's entire body goes tense "Wh—wh—what?" She stutters out finding herself unable to speak.

"Angel." Marcus says as he turns to stand in front of her "He killed me, I just thought it would be right to return the favour. If it helps I was rather quick when I removed his head and tossed him into sunlight."

"No." She breaths out and shakes her head as water fills her eyes, she refused to believe it, she had already lost too much, Angel couldn't be dead he couldn't be.

"I can have one of my witches show you his end or..." Reaching into his pocket his pulls out a small silver object and places it on the table in her view.

Buffy clenches her jaw and clinks tightly before finally her eyes fall on the silver object in front of her. There it was right in front of her. Angel's ring. The same one that paired with the one he had given her so long ago.  
Letting out a loud sob she allows tears to roll down her cheeks as she hyperventilates.

"He never took it off." Marcus tells the blonde "And in his final moments the heart was still facing inwards. If that's any comfort."

Buffy blinks quickly as tears continue to spill over, she had no one left anymore.

"I am sorry Miss Summers Stark. Such a year of suffering. First you're best friend...then your father...now your first love."

Looking down at the ground Buffy feels herself wanting to shut down as the reality of her life hits her, she had nothing left anymore.

"It was an inconvience." Marcus assures her "Your father and Angel needed to be out of the way."

At his words Buffy feels her blood boil and her eyes darken "An inconvenience?" She asks as her eyes connect with his while she pulls at her restraints "Killing my father and the man I loved is an inconvenience to you!" She pulls violently at the restraints and can feel them shudder at her strength, she was so consumed by her anger that she didn't even notice how much strength she has now, as she pulls at the restraints the metal literally bended with her and left fractures in the walls "I have been left with nothing!" She screams as she pulls again causing the walls to shake as she pulls again "I will kill you!"

Marcus watches her in fascination never before had he seen a Slayer with so much strength, she was truly remarkable.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Miss Stark. Wolfram and Hart thank you for your contribution to the Mandarin's cause." At his words he smiles once more before turning the controls again causing the blonde to scream bloody murder as high voltages of electricity ran through her body once again.


	21. Chapter 21

"Go now." May orders as her Tony and Xander run at the wall of the estate Harley had told them to go to.

Placing her foot on the wall May leaps into the air flipping over the wall gracefully while Tony climbs over.

Xander on the other hand struggles, and as the billionaire and the spy land on their feet one after the other he doesn't do so as gracefully as the others, landing on his back and grunting in exhaustion.

"I need to work out more." He groans as Tony pulls him up and the three continue through the estate.

As they make their way through the gardens May raises her hands making the two pause as she signals them to stay quiet.

Running up behind the guard May drops to her knees and swings her arm out taking out the back of the guards knee, as he stumbles she stands and reaches around grasping his gun and twisting it out of his hold before driving her fist into his throat.  
Grabbing his shoulder she then flips him over her shoulder tossing him to the ground before punching him in the face one last time.

Hearing another guard come up behind her with a gun aimed at her she throws her hands forward wrapping them around the gun and then yanks him around causing him to lose his balance. Allowing her to twist her wrist sending him twisting through the air before crashing onto his back.

Suddenly a bullet flies right past her causing her to turn her head only to spot the guard who had been about to come up behind her now quivering on the floor in pain.

Frowning she turns her head only to let out a shocked breath as standing their holding a smoking gun is Xander "Thanks."  
Xander grins "No problem." He says before turning around and firing another shot at the guard to the side, shooting him in the kneecap.

"Damn boy." Tony whistles before he turns and grabs one of the guards with his gloved hand. The handmade weapon immediately lets out a burst of electricity, causing the guard to been convulsing before collapsing.

Grinning Tony nods at his two companions before they bend down out of sight and he quickly grabs the Christmas tree balls out of his bag.  
"You gonna tell us what those do?" Xander asks.

"Let's just say Christmas is gonna be explosive this year." Tony grins before rolling the ball towards the two guards by the large waterfall.

May and Xander wait for some form of explosion to occur but there was nothing, the two of them turn to Tony only to spot him now firing a homemade stapler gun at the two guards.  
May shakes her head before grabbing Xander and the two of them follow after Tony as the three of them make their way into the house.

As they walk around the large mansion Xander pulls out the device Selene had given him before he had left, "I can track Buffy's signal now." Xander tells the other two "Whatever magical barrier was keeping her location secret must have stopped the minute we entered this house. She's here. Somewhere."

Tony lets out a sigh of relief before moving over to the man in the suit who was sat on the couch talking to a complaining hooker, moving up behind him he places the electrical glove on the man's head sending enough electricity through him to render him uncounsious.

"I didn't want to be the only one without a stolen gun." Tony says with a small shrug as he picks up the man's gun in his hand.  
"Now let's find the Mandarin."

The three keep moving through the house before they find a large bedroom dressed in the most expensive furniture and silk curtains.

"What the hell." Xander mumbles as the three of them keep their guns raised while making their way around the room.  
Tony raises his hand before gesturing to the bed where clearly someone was moving under the duvet.

Tony takes a nervous step forward before yanking the bed covers only to reveal two women in underwear now glaring at him in annoyance.  
"Okay this is some sick joke right?" Xander asks.  
May shakes her head "Something is wrong here."

Suddenly the three jump as the noise of a toilet flushing fills the room, quickly the three hide just as in strolls the Mandarin "I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes."

The Mandarin chuckles before moving around the bed to the side table "Now, which one of you is Vanessa?" He asks.  
One of the brunettes in the bed quickly sits up "That's me."  
The Mandarin laughs loudly before grabbing a fortune cookie off the table and tossing it towards her "Ah! Nessie. Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?"

Tony and Xander immediately turn to May waiting for confirmation only making the Agent roll her eyes "Seriously?" She asks clearly unamused but their assumptions.

"Enough of this." She mumbles before standing raising her gun towards the Mandarin "They were made by the Americans." She finishes off for the Mandarin, causing him to scream like a girl and quickly hold up his hands in surrender.

The Mandarin clears his throat "Bloody hell, bloody hell."

"Don't move." Tony orders as he moves around May and glares at the terrorist "Where's my daughter?!"

The Mandarin frowns in confusion "What? Look you want something you take it. Although the guns are all fake those Wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones."

"You're British." Xander says in confusion.  
The Mandarin grins "Yep. Blood hell, bugger, knickers...a complete and utter brit here."

Tony shakes his head in annoyance before moving forward holding his gun against the Mandarin's head "I've heard enough. You're not him." Clocking his gun Tony presses the gun against the brit's temple, he was done playing games, he needed to find his daughter and now "Where is he! Where's the Mandarin!"

As the brit stumbles away from Tony in fear May tilts her head as a thought occurs to her. It was all a hoax, the whole time all of it.  
The Mandarin was nothing but a distraction.

"He's right here." The brit says as he falls onto one of the leather chairs and looks at Tony desperately "But he's not here. Here's here, but he's not here."  
Tony frowns in confusion "What do you mean?"  
"It's complicated."  
Tony glares at him not liking the explanation "Uncomplicate it."

May sighs before turning the the terrified women who were still laid in bed "Bathroom now!" She yells causing the two girls to scamper out of bed and into the bathroom as May turns back to the two arguing men and Xander.  
May then fires her gun at the wall by the Mandarin's head causing everyone to jump and the girls in the bathroom to scream "Explain!"

"My name's Trevor." Trevor tells them all as he sits on the couch staring at them all fearfully "Trevor Slattery."  
"What are you?" Tony asks as he steps forward "What are you, a decoy? You're a double, right?"  
Trevor frowns "What, you mean like an understudy? No absolutely not."  
Xander frowns in shock "How many braincells have you had fried?"

Tony rolls his eyes before raising the gun again only causing Trevor to jump "Don't hurt the face! I'm an actor." He tells them all causing all three of them to freeze.

That had not been what they were expecting.

Tony turns to May and Xander who were as flabbergasted as him, when neither of them said anything he turns back to Trevor "You have one minute to live, fill it with words or I let little ninja kill you."

At his words May crosses her arms only making Trevor gulp and nods his head quickly "It's just a role. The Mandarin, see it's not real."  
"Then how are you, you know here?" Xander asks in confusion as he slowly lowers his gun.

"Well, I , um, a little problem with substances. And I ended up doing things, no two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn't do."  
Xander groans "I really wish I didn't have ears right now."

"That can be arranged." May tells him simply as she moves closer towards Trevor making the man quiver in fear "I um, then, they approached me about the role, and they knew about the drugs."

Tony frowns in confusion, non of this was making any sense "What, they said they'd get you off them?"

"They said they'd give me more." Trevor says with a grin "They gave me things. They gave me this palace. They have me plastic surgery. They gave me things."

"Plastic surgery?" Xander asks in a frown only causing May to lower her gun and tuck it into her holster "There was an underground ring in the 90's, level 10, rumour had it the leader was called The Mandarin, it's why Fury was so interested in this case. My guess, whoever is actually in charge wants a symbol people will fear but not one that will take control."

Trevor nods at that "Yep. The boss said the original didn't like women." He mumbles before he basically passes out right then and there.

All three of them stare at the actor in shock "Is he?" Xander starts only for May to finish "He's asleep."

Tony kicks Trevor's leg trying to wake him "Did you just nod off?"  
Tony groans before kicking him again causing Trevor to shoot up in his seat "No, and a lovely speedboat. And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions."

As he begins mimicking explosions Tony clenches his jaw "He? Killian?  
"Killian?"  
"He created you."

May sighs shaking her head in disbelief "Custom-made terror threat."  
"Yes, yes!" Trevor exclaims "They're own personal think tank!"  
"They?" Xander asks in confusion this guy was making less and less sense "You said he."  
"Yes! Two he's."  
Tony's eyes widen at that "Killian's working with someone?"

"Two someone's. Actually many many someones. Guys in big suits. Really scary, they came up with the pathology of a serial killer. The manipulation of Western Iconography." Trevor chuckles before taking a deep breath "Ready for another lesson?" he whispers out in his Mandarin accent before shrugging it off "Blah blah blah."

Standing Trevor moves over to the mini fridge and pulls out several bottles of beer offering them around only getting no's from everyone.

Tony rubs a hand over his jaw as he sits down and tries to process all of this, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.  
Trevor shrugs "Of course with my performance that brought the Mandarin to life. Oh the misses she was very smart came up with ides. Ways to scare people."

"The misses?" May asks in confusion.  
Trevor nods before looking around the room in fear "Yeah. She scary. Can kill me from anywhere on earth. She scares them all, they bow at her feet."  
"Who?" Xander asks.  
"Killian. Marcus, the man in suits."

"Marcus." Tony mumbles not listening as Trevor continues to talk about the costumes and the green screen and movie magic.

At his words, Tony finds himself fed up and he stands turning on the Brit "I have a best friend in a coma who may not wake up, and a daughter who is currently being tortured by your boss. So you're still going down pal."

Trevor frowns at his words "Daughter, daughter...the blonde!"  
At his words all of them freeze, hope finally returning to Tony "Yes! Yes, the blonde, she's hurt."

Trevor chuckles "No, no...that's all make-up, she's gonna be part of the act. All American girl threatened!" He says with a laugh but before another word could escape him Tony pushes him up against the wall, a hand around his throat "Where is she!"  
"I, um, they, they keep her somewhere. I hear her rehearse, screaming."

Suddenly the lights in the room flicker before an echoing scream fills the room, Trevor grins "Just like that."

Trevor smiles at Tony only for slowly his smile to fall just as May suddenly goes flying across the room followed by Xander.

Tony gasps before spinning around raising his gun only to have a fist connect with his face

* * *

Buffy screams in agony again as the guard spins the controls all the way to top voltage, keeping it there for a good few minutes.

"Leave her be." A female voice says before suddenly the electrical flow comes to a stop.

As the guard leaves the room Buffy groans, her body going limp slightly before she looks over at the brunette woman in front of her.  
"Who the hell are you?"

"Maya." Maya answers simply as she adjusts the needle in Buffy's arm stopping it from leaking, she then grabs a small first aid kit from her desk and walks towards the blonde, who glares down at.  
"Don't touch me."  
Maya sighs "Buffy if I don't dress that the infection is gonna spread, even you're susceptible to infection and natural causes."

Buffy clenches her jaw before nodding allowing the brunette to pour alcohol on the wound "Impressive, how you put the bone back yourself."  
"Wasn't too fun." Buffy mumbles winces slightly as Maya wraps a bandage around the oozing leg.  
"I'm sorry about all of this."  
Buffy lets out a humourless laugh only making Maya sigh "You've grown so much."

At her words Buffy tenses "Excuse me."

Maya smiles kindly at the young woman "I saw you with your father, when you were a kid, it was New Years Eve, Switzerland. You couldn't have been older 10, and you were confused as to why you weren't allowed to be seen."

Buffy clenches her jaw before pulling violently at her restraints "Don't speak to me about my father."  
"Buffy."

Buffy growls at the woman before pulling at the binds again causing Maya to gasp and quickly back away.

As Maya makes her way over to her work station Buffy goes limp again relaxing her body, she could feel herself losing more and more blood. God knows how long she would last now, they had taken at least two or three bags of her blood now, so it wouldn't be long.

* * *

Pepper groans in agony as she finally wakes only to find herself strapped to an upright bed. As panic settles in she begins struggling and calling for help, hoping and praying for someone to come and release her.

"Help!" She screams as she struggles again only to pause as she spots the large tank beside her, frowning in confusion, her eyes trail the pipes coming out of it only to realise where they were leading.

It was hooked up to her.

They were experimenting on her.

"Ah I see you're awake." Killian says happily as he strolls over to the red head and smiles at her "How you doing sleeping beauty?"  
At his question she glares at him causing him to sigh "I know it's not ideal but it could be worse."

Pepper scoffs only for Killian to shrug, slowly he reaches over and grabs onto the table, wheeling it over.  
On the table was a computer, quickly typing into the computer he turns it towards Pepper "You better be a good girl."

Switching on the camera footage Pepper's eyes widen as she spots a bloodied screaming Buffy being tortured on the screen.

"Where is she?!" Pepper screams as she pulls at her restraints only for Killian to cup her cheek sweetly, almost taunting her "For now she's alive. That's all you need to now. So as some motivation for you to remain on your best behaviour I'm gonna leave this here with you. If you're good. I'll let you say goodbye to your surrogate daughter, before we drain her."


	22. Chapter 22

Buffy jumps as suddenly the double doors are slammed open and two metal bed frames are rolled into the room with two people chained to them.  
Two people Buffy recognises.  
"Xander?" Buffy breaths before her eyes fall on the female Agent beside him "May?"

"Buffy?" They both breathe in relief before Xander chuckles "Would you believe we're here to save you?"  
Buffy smiles happily "I can't believe you guys are here."  
"It's good to see you Buffy." May tells her, smiling kindly at the girl making Xander's eyes widen, that was the first time he had seen her smile.

Buffy smiles at the Agent "You too May, but you guys shouldn't have come."  
"We weren't gonna let him do this alone."

Buffy frowns in confusion at Xander's words only for her eyes to fall on the final person being wheeled into the room.

Her eyes widen in shock and disbelief, this wasn't possible, it couldn't be, she had watched him die, had felt her heart shatter as he plummeted to his death.  
"Dad?" She breaths out softly the word coming out as more of a loud sob.

Tony's eyes widen as he wakes, his eyes fall on his daughter and he smiles brightly "Buffy."  
Buffy smiles tears running down her cheeks "Dad...you're alive...how...I thought..."

"I'm okay kid." He tells her as he smiles, feeling a tear pass his eyes as he is placed beside his daughter "I'm gonna get you out of here. We're the rescue patrol."

"Getting captured wasn't exactly part of the plan." Xander says with a chuckle.

Buffy smiles only to wince softly causing Tony to frown, "What is it?" He asks before he actually the first time looks at her properly, there was blood all over her side, her jeans had blood covering the entirety of one leg, with a white bandage wrapped around her thigh.

There was a bullet hole on her arm and a large cut on her forehead "Oh God, Buff." He sobs out, it was breaking his heart seeing her like this.  
Buffy smiles at her father weakly "I'm okay." She promises.  
Tony sighs before his eyes fall on the needle currently in her arm taking blood "How long have they been taking blood from you?"

"A while." She says weakly as he finally realises how pale she looks.  
"Just like old times, huh?" Maya asks as she turns to face the four of them her focus on Tony.

Tony clenches his jaw "Oh yeah, with zip ties. And bad rip offs of The Incredibles." He says gesturing to the four of them currently tied up, with Buffy in the metal circular hovering thing still "You got me, dad...obviously..." He says before gesturing to May "Mom, she is bendy and flippy after all..." Then Xander "...dash. Except he ain't so fast. But he is kind of like a child." And then finally Buffy "And our little Violet, who will probably power chop us all out of here."

"Kind of not in a power chop mood right now." Buffy mumbles.  
"Sorry sweetie." Tony tells her before turning back to Maya.

Maya sighs before shaking her head "It wasn't my idea."  
Tony scoffs "Okay. So you took Killian's card."  
"I took his money." She corrects.  
"And here you are 13 years later in a dungeon."

Buffy groans before turning to her dad "Actually the dungeon is downstairs...it gives out a whole Rocky Horror vibe."  
"Interesting."  
"And she is free to come and go as she pleases." Buffy informs him before turning to glare at Maya "She shows off about it, came in with Mcdonalds earlier."  
"That's just cruel." Xander comments.  
Maya sighs at the banter before standing and making her way towards the four of them "A lots happened Tony, but I'm close."

"Pst." May whispers to Buffy from her place beside the Slayer causing Buffy to frown.  
May then looks up at the metal balls around Buffy's hands 'Electricity?'  
She mouths out making Buffy nod.

May grins before clenching her jaw, adjusting her hands in the zip ties, Buffy watches as Melinda moves her wrist softly before snapping her own wrist, grunting softly she moves her broken wrist into her top pocket on her leather jacket and pulls out a small metal device.  
"EMP." May whispers only causing Buffy to grin happily "I love you." Buffy says happily before turning her head back to Maya.

"Extremeis is practically stabilised, with your daughter's blood we will—"

As Maya monologues, Tony cuts her off, "I'm telling you it isn't. You've been stocking up on Slayer blood for months and nothing. I'm on the street. People are going bang. Maya, you're kidding yourself."

At his words Buffy's eyes widen in horror, she looks over at Xander who looks down in shame, at his look she knew that he had been lying to her and her heart broke.  
Cutting Maya off Buffy speaks shakily "How...how many of my girls are dead?"

Maya sighs before turning to the blonde "Buffy, you need to understand they were all apart of the greater plan."  
Buffy glares at her and pulls at her chains only causing electricity to pass through her making her scream in agony.

"Buffy!" Tony and May exclaim as they pull at their binds before Tony glares over at Maya "Make this stop!"  
"It will when she stops struggling!" Maya yells before focusing on Tony "Look you wanna avoid Killian draining your daughter dry, then help me fix this." As she speaks she raises the 13-year-old note he had given her back then with his calculations on the back.

Tony keeps his eye on his daughter not speaking till finally the electricity stopped shocking her. Sighing her turns back to Maya with an arched brow "Did I do that?"  
Maya stares at him in disbelief "Yes."  
"I remember the night, not the morning. Is this what you've been chasing around?"  
Maya's eyes fill with tears her dreams clearly shattering right before their eyes "You don't remember?"

Tony shakes his head "Can't help you. You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you. You have helped a psycho torture girls for research and have been torturing my daughter for days." He scoffs and looks at her in disgust "I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has their soul." As Maya's face falls Tony takes a chance "Get us out of here. Come on."

"May." Buffy whispers as Maya walks away from Tony, May turns to the blonde confused only for Buffy to give her a panicked expression 'Someone's coming.' She mouths.

May's eyes widen and she nods, slipping her wrist back into the zip tie she keeps a hold of the EMP waiting for it to power-up, of course Fury had given her the Fitzsimmons prototype, apparently they had developed a newer version but unlucky for her she got the wind-up version.

"You know..." Killian starts as he makes his way into the room and down the stairs towards the four prisoners "...what my old man used to say to me? One of his favourite of many savings... _'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."  
_ Buffy frowns "Why are we supposed to care about your obvious daddy issues?"  
"Spitfire your little girl is." Killian says with a chuckle as he faces Tony "She's been keeping my guards on their toes." Slowly Killian glares over at the Summers Stark girl "A lot of my men are dead because of your continued escape attempts."

Buffy smirks "Well I figured you were fine sacrificing a few pawns in this game."  
Killian smiles before pointing at the blonde "I like you, it's a shame we're gonna drain you."

At his words Tony pulls at the restraints violently, not liking the threats Killian was making at his daughter. He swore that the second he got out of here, the first thing he was going to do, was rip Killian's head from his body.  
"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?" Tony asks Killian attempting to keep his focus off of Buffy.

Killian grins at the billionaire "How can I be pissed at you, Tony? I'm here to thank you. You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me."  
Xander raises his hand "Insanity?"  
"Desperation." Killian corrects.  
"Clearly." May comments glaring at him wanting to snap his neck like a twig.

"Brought your own little gang with you huh Tony?" Killian taunts before smiling "You said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first 20 minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour..." Killian pauses almost for dramatics "...I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. If you know what I mean."

Buffy groans as more blood flows out of her before she turns to Killian "I'm perfectly happily to give you a small push off that rooftop."  
Tony chuckles "If I could high five you I would."  
Buffy smiles before frowning "Did you figure out what happened to the first mouse?"  
Tony shakes his head, "No, maybe it got turned into a hot dog or something."  
"Never eating hot-dogs again." Xander mumbles.

Killian watches the three of them banter while May stayed quiet willing the EMP to hurry up.

Killian groans in annoyance, as none of them were actually paying attention to him, which was really pissing him off "Hello!" He screams causing all of them to glance at him.  
Once he was sure he had their attention he grins "As I was saying, as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, no one was even looking."  
"Nobody cared." Buffy taunts with a roll of her eyes "We done with your sob story now, causing it's kinda making me wanna nod off."

Killian clenches his jaw before continuing "I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. An idea that Wolfram and Hart funded for me. The believed in me. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since."

Glancing over at Maya he smiles "Right?"  
Maya offers him a tight smile, which just encouraged Killian to continue "You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target."

Buffy rolls her eyes in annoyance "Geez okay, we get it you're evil. Do we have to chat about it all day?"  
"Yes, I'm feeling my ears about to start bleeding." May comments, only causing Killian to roll his eyes before moving to sit at the desk across from them.

"You've met him, I assume?" He says as he mentions Trevor.  
Tony nods "Yes. Sir Laurence Oblivier."  
"I know he's a little over the top sometimes." Killian says in agreement as he swings back and forth on his chair "It's not entirely my fault. He has a tenden...he's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is."

"England you idiot." May tells him only smirking at him as he glares at her.

"The Calvary." Killian teases as he stands making his way towards the Agent who clenches her fist, she couldn't risk losing her temper and revealing that she had one hand free, he still had a hand on Buffy's life with those controls.  
If she did anything he could kill the blonde.

"Don't ever call me that."

"I've read the file you know." Killian taunts her before grinning "You're rather impressive. But why be here? Why does the great Melinda May want to protect Buffy Summers?" He moves towards Buffy grabbing ahold of her cheek before turning to Melinda who clenches her jaw "Aww, you care about her? Another surrogate mother for you Miss Summers."

Killian chuckles before moving back over to May "Where do you fit into all of this?"  
"Currently?" She asks before glaring at him "About five feet from kicking your ass."  
Killian laughs loudly before backing away pointing a finger at her "I like you, you're sassy."

"Yo grease lighting!" Buffy says drawing his attention away from the Agent "Back to your monologue, but before you do, I'm gonna make you a promise."  
"And what's that?"

Buffy grins "Quoting my girl Drew, I'm gonna make a promise to you and your guards back there..." She says gesturing to the guards by the doorway "By the time this is over, everyone one of you is gonna be face down on the floor, and I'm gonna moonwalk out of here. I'm gonna leap frog over him before I break your nose." She says gesturing to one of the guards before focusing back on Killian.

"Really?" He asks her before grinning "You know I have a little something for you Buffy, and you too Tony. You see I'm using you as leverage for her too." Before either Buffy or Tony could speak a hologram appears in the middle of the room of Pepper currently crying out in pain, as extremis runs through her system and Buffy's blood is pumped into her.  
"You better hope your blood is the cure." Killian tells Buffy who's eyes were still focused on the hologram in horror "Because at this point her body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if Buffy's blood doesn't help and her body gives up I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular. But until that point, there's really just a lot of pain."

Both Buffy and Tony pull at the restraints Buffy this time ignoring the sting of electricity passing through her.  
She yanks on her restraints, the metal shattering slightly around her hand causing Killian to frown.

Buffy yanks again this time the metal shattering a little bit more and the wall where the restraints were connected shudders under her strength, a large crack appearing in the wall.  
"Impressive." Killian breaths "You see how much power you have."

At his words Buffy frowns before her eyes widen at the damage she had done, that—that wasn't possible. She wasn't this strong.

Killian chuckles before moving towards Tony and wrapping a hand around his throat as the hologram of Pepper disappears "What kind of perk package are you thinking of?" Killian taunts as he slams Tony against the bed he was chained against.

Buffy's eyes widen as for the first time she sees the extremis currently running through Killian's body.

"Let him go." A voice says from behind Killian, all of them turn in shock to see Maya holding a needle against her own throat.  
Killian sighs "Maya—"  
"I said let him go."  
Killian's eyes widen as he spots what she was holding against her neck "What are you doing?"  
"1200 CCs." She replies "A dose half of the size, I'm dead."  
Killian groans in annoyance before glancing at Tony "It's time like this, my temper is tested somewhat. Maya, give me the injector."

Maya shakes her head and takes a step back "If I die, Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product, even if you have Buffy's blood I'm the only one who knows how to use it with extremis." As he steps towards her she continues to walk backwards making sure she was a fair distance away and never in reach "What happens to you? What happens if you go too hot?"  
Killian breathes deeply trying to keep his temper in control before turning back to Tony, smiling brightly at him as he raises his gun and fires a shot into Maya's stomach before turning back to Tony.

"The good news is, a high-level position has just been vacated."

Buffy stares in shock as Maya collapses dead on the ground before she turns back to Killian with a horrified expression on her face "You really have overdosed on crazy pills huh?"  
"No, I'm just a visionary." Killian tells her "I do own a maniac. And he takes the stage tonight."


	23. Chapter 23

The four remain there in silence, as they do Tony looks down at the ground, unable to look at anyone.

Buffy sighs sadly before groaning in annoyance as she spots one of the extremis soldiers now sat on the table Killian had vacated, chewing gum.  
"I thought I killed you." Buffy says in annoyance.  
"Nope little lady." He answers simply just as Tony's watch begins buzzing.

Buffy frowns in confusion and as her father begins exchanging banter destracting the guards she turns to May before glancing up at her hand where the EMP was about to turn green.

Taking a shaky breath Buffy glances at May the two nodding at each other just as the device goes green.

Buffy grins and yanks on the two metal balls around her hands and her feet, as she struggles the metal shatters completely around her, this time no electricity being released.

Grinning the blonde lands in a crouch on the floor and feels the adrenaline kick in just as May moves to stand beside her while Buffy yanks the needle from her arm.

"Ready sestra?" May asks as the two approach the extremis filled guards, that were moving towards them.  
"Yah." Buffy grins before leap frogging over one of them and coming up to the bald one.  
"Hi." Buffy grins before kicking him in the gut.

"Buffy you totally just stole my thunder!" Tony exclaims as he continues to make weird hand gestures.

Buffy rolls her eyes before pushing the guard to the side as he leaps at her, grabbing his arm she twists it behind his back before pushing him towards May, who leaps up kicking him in the gut.

May grunts however as one of the extremis guards begins burning her side before tossing her back towards the metal bed frame.  
Buffy's eyes widen "May!" She exclaims before spinning around kicking the one who had hurt May in the gut sending him flying through the air.

Leaping up she kicks the one in front of her again sending him crashing into the wall just as the other guard stands and runs at her.

Grabbing his arms she ducks out of the way just as the bald one swings his fist out allowing the hit to miss her and directly go into the guard's face.

Leaping up again she punches the bald guy only to have him grab her side and slam her into the wall.  
Buffy grunts as his hand digs into the wound on her side, and she panics momentarily as she feels him burning her.

As he moves to slam her against another wall, she uses the momentum to place a foot on the wall before doing a backflip off of it.

As she lands behind him she kicks him in the back before wrapping her arm around the other's neck and as he attempts to get her off she places her feet on the wall running in a circular motion allowing her to kick the other guard as he approaches again.

May runs at Buffy and grasps her hand allowing Buffy to spin her at the guards causing May to kick both of the guards in the face.

Buffy grins before clicking her neck, running up to the guard she steps onto his chest doing a backflip off him, kicking him in the face in the process.  
She then grabs him and throws him upwards causing him to fly out of the window.  
She turns to May just as the agent runs a metal pole through the other.

Buffy grins "And that's kicking your ass." She says happily before moonwalking slightly, only to wish she hadn't, as the adrenaline quickly wears off and the side effects of all her blood loss hits her. Causing her to crumble to the ground.

May quickly unties Xander before running over to Buffy "Buffy?" She breaths in worry placing the exhuated pale girl in her arms and pushing the hair out of her face.

"She's fading fast." May whispers before turning to Tony who now somehow had his metal hand from the suit.  
"How?" Xander asks only for Tony to grin.  
"Harley!" He yells as he spots guards running down the hall towards them.

"Where's the rest of it?" Buffy asks weakly as May wraps an arm around her and pulls her up with Xander's help.

May's eyes widen as guards begin firing at them, tackling Buffy to the ground she protects the girl while Xander crouches beside them.  
May's eyes widen in panic as she spots the pale faced girl, placing a hand on her cheek emotion fills the agents eyes "Buffy, you need to stay with me."

Buffy nods grumbling under her breath.

May sighs before turning to Xander "Don't leave her." She orders before grabbing a gun off the ground and placing her foot on a nearby table using it to flip herself through the air, firing the gun as she is airborne.

As she takes out guard after guard she glances at Stark who was doing the same as her.

When she spots one coming up behind the billionaire she tackles the guard to the ground before elbowing him in the face and flipping over his back.  
Grabbing the back of his neck she swiftly snaps it before moving on raising her gun she points it at the guard Tony was currently aiming his own blasters at.  
The guard panics and quickly lowers his gun "Honestly, I hate working here. They are so weird."

Tony chuckles just as the rest of the suit finally begins forming around him.

"Guys we have a problem." Xander tells May and Tony as he runs in with a barely conscious Buffy in his arms.  
Tony quickly catches the mask before it can form with the suit and says a quick hello to Jarvis before focusing on his daughter.  
Taking her from Xander he pushes the hair out of her face "Buffy, come on Buffy, you're fading fast."

As she stumbles he lifts her into his arms "Come on kiddo."

"Stark!" May exclaims as she runs over and gestures to the sky, all three of them glance up at the sky where a jet and the Iron Patriot suit were currently flying.

"Go." May tells him as she takes Buffy from his arms "We will get her to the SHIELD jet, I can have it pick us up from here."  
Tony pauses and stares in worry at his daughter only for May to nod at him "I'll protect her."

"So will I." Xander says only for Tony to groan and attempt to fly only to realise that his thrusters sounded like a bad car engine and he couldn't take off.  
"Oh come on."  
Xander chuckles "Failure to launch?"  
At his words May and Tony as well as the half coherent Buffy all glare at him making Xander clear his throat "Okay not the time."

Tony groans in annoyance before lifting Buffy into his arms, "I can walk." She mumbles softly.  
"Buffy the longer you're on that leg more chance you'll lose it. You're lucky to be alive." May tells the girl.  
Buffy chuckles unamused "Yeah I totally feel like a leprechaun right now."

Tony chuckles before he begins moving down the stairs with his daughter in his arms while Xander and May follow holding guns in their hands gunning down anyone who approached.

As Tony walks awkwardly down the stairs with Buffy in his arms Tony frowns as Jarvis informs him of an incoming call from Rhodey.  
 _"_ _Tony."  
_ "Rhodey tell me that was you in the suit."  
 _"_ _No. You got yours?"  
_ "Uh...mnn. Kind of."  
 _"_ _And Buffy?"_

Tony pauses and glances down in worry at the girl in his arms, she was getting paler by the minute and blood was still spilling from her wounds. There was too much to the point where he couldn't tell where one wound ended and another began.

"She's alive."

At his words Buffy whimpers in pain only causing May to turn to Tony "She needs medical attention, Stark." May tells him.  
"How long till your jet gets here."  
May groans before checking her phone "Not quick enough."  
Tony lets out a panicked breath before an idea comes to him "Main house, as fast as you can. There's somebody I'd like you to meet."

* * *

As the guards enter the room where two girls in underwear were currently playing ping pong, Tony strolls in holding a ping pong paddle "What's this? I had winners." Tony jokes as the two girls running screaming from the room.

Before he could even get another shot in Rhodey dives in through the glass terrace doors and shoots them both.  
"Let's go." Tony orders only causing Rhodey's eyes to widen as Xander and May run into the room with his God-Daughter. His eyes widen in horror as he spots the blood.

"Buffy!" Rhodey yells as he runs over as Xander places her on the ping–pong table while Tony approaches the quivering Trevor, causing him to spill his beer everywhere.

Rhodey watches his God-daughter in horror as he spots the blood covering her "What did they do to her?"  
"We're not sure." May answers as Xander runs into the bathroom coming out with a first aid kit.  
May sighs in relief only to groan in annoyance as she finds nothing inside expect for one bandage.

Rhodey watches his God-Daughter wince in pain before an anger fills him, storming over to the Mandarin he raises his gun at Trevor "You make a move and I break your face."

Trevor glances back at Buffy before turning to Tony "I never thought people had been hurt. They lied to me."  
Rhodey pauses before turning to Tony is disbelief "This is the Mandarin?"  
Tony nods "Yeah, I know, it's...it's embarrassing. Apparently there is a real one. But he's in jail."

Rhodey groans before turning to Trevor who holds out a hand towards him "Hi, Trevor. Trevor Slattery." Rhodey slaps his hand away "I know I'm shorter in person. A bit smaller. Everyone says that. But, um, hey, if you're here to arrest me, there's some people I'd like to roll on."  
Tony rolls his eyes "Here's how it works Meryl Streep, you tell him where Pepper is and he'll stop doing it."  
Trevor frowns in confusion the beer having made him a little fuzzier than usual "Doing what?"

Instead of saying it Rhodey demonstrated, placing the hot end of the gun against Trevor's ear causing Trevor to gasp in pain "Okay, okay I get it. I don't know about any Pepper, but I know about the plan."

Tony glances over at his daughter where May was currently cutting through her ripped vest to get a better look at the wound on her side before beginning to wrap it.

Tony clenches his jaw, it physically hurt him watching his daughter like this, helpess, it was not a good look on her, she was too strong for this "Spill." He hisses turning back to Trevor.

Rhodey presses his foot on Trevor's knee pressing on it painfully "Do you know what they did to my suit?"

"What? No." Trevor answers as though it was the stupidest question he had ever heard "But I do know it's happening off the coast. Something to do with a big boat. I can take you there."

Suddenly Trevor exclaims as his eyes fall on the football game happening on the screen, as he yells in joy a loud scream escapes Buffy.

"I'm sorry!" Xander yells as he attempts to hold the screaming Slayer down while May tightens the bandage around her leg trying to stop the bleeding but only causing the already damaged bone to shift.

"Buffy!" Tony exclaim as he runs over just as Buffy's head drops back onto the table, placing his hand on her head he runs his metal fingers through her hair before turning to May who looked at him with a worried frown.

"We need to keep her awake." May warns "If she falls asleep she may not get up again."  
Tony inhales sharply only for his focus to fall on Rhodey.  
"Tony, I swear to God, I'm gonna blow his face off." Rhodey hisses.  
Trevor panics "Oh, and this next bit may include the vice president as well. Is that...is that important."

Tony groans in annoyance, he did not have time for this, his main focus was protecting his daughter and making sure she got out of here alive "Somewhat."  
"Yeah, a little bit." Rhodey agrees as he gives Trevor some room.  
Tony groans before turning to his best friend "So?"  
Rhodey rubs his jaw "What are we gonna do? I mean, we don't have any transport—"

"Not true." May informs them both just as a large breeze fills the room Tony and Rhodey tilt their head only to spot the SHIELD zephyr now outside on the lawn.  
"Now that is awesome." Xander breathes out "Can I drive?"  
"No." May and Tony hiss before May turns to Xander "You're not touching my bus."

Tony grins before stepping forward and lifting Buffy into his arms "Up up and away we go."


	24. Chapter 24

"I only have basic medical training and even I know this is bad." Rhodey breaths as he examines Buffy's wounds while May was in the pilot's seat.

Moving to check on the wound on Buffy's side his eyes widen as the blonde winces in agony "Sorry honey." He breathes before turning to glance at May "You got any morphine?"

"Top draw." May tells him before she glances over at Tony who was sat in the seat beside her "We're about 20 minutes out."

Tony nods and glances back at his daughter, he could see the pain in her eyes plus the dents on the metal table she was laying on didn't exactly hide that fact. Taking a deep breath he forces his gaze away from Buffy before focusing on the Agent beside him "So what do you think this Vice President thing Streep was talking about is?"

May sighs honestly she had no idea, all she knew was that this was going to be bad, reaching across her she grabs the communication device on the control panel "SHIELD 425 requesting—"

May is cut off as Tony grins at her as he brings his cell-phone to his ear "Sir this is Tony Stark."  
May's eyes widen in astonishment, this man continued to find ways of surprising her.

Tony grins at the beautiful Agent before focusing on his phone call with the Vice-president.

 _"_ _Welcome back to the land of the living."_

Tony glances back at Rhodey who was moving towards the two of them watching the conversation with interest "We believe you're about to be drawn into the Mandarin campaign. We gotta get you somewhere safe as soon as possible." _"_

 _"Mr Stark, I'm about to eat honey-roast ham, surrounded by the Agency's finest. The president's safe on Air Force One with Colonel Rhodes. I think we're good, here."_

At that point Rhodey jumps into the conversation "Sir, this is Colonel Rhodes. They're using the Iron Patriot as a Trojan horse. We have to immediately alert that plane."  
 _"_ _Okay I'm on it."_

* * *

At the three converse and come up with a plan to save Pepper and the President, Buffy groans from her place laid on the table.

Blinking against the bright lights the blonde opens her eyes only to wince in pain from the harsh light, she had become so accustomed to her dark cell.

She attempts to sit up only for an arm to force her down "Hey."  
Buffy freezes at the voice and glances up only for a bright smile to reach her face as she spots her best friend in front of her "Xander."  
"Hey Buff." He breaths as he pushes the hair out of her face and smiles down at her, the worry in his eyes so clear that it made the blonde pause.

She knew he was worried, but she had never seen him like this, which could only mean her injuries were worse than she thought.  
Looking down her eyes widen at the sight of her leg, her healing had finally kicked in but it was still bad, honestly she was more surprised that she was alive right now.

"I should be dead."

"You're dad made a donation." Xander tells her as he gestures to where her father was currently speaking on the phone at the front of the plane, slowly Xander pauses before gulping and looking at Buffy "Selene is monitoring your condition from Scotland but Buffy...you're healing faster than any Slayer in history. Tens of other Slayers were put through the same procedure as you, and yours was worse, you should be dead."

Buffy gulps and looks up at him with wide eyes "Then why aren't I?"  
"I don't know."  
Sighing the blonde runs a hand through her hair, happy that she seemed to at least now be in less blood covered clothes.

Hissing as she attempts to sit up Xander helps her up allowing her to lean onto him before watching her in worry "You okay?"  
"Just peachy." She jokes before looking down at her bandaged side and ripped clothing, they may be less blood covered but these clothes still brought her bad memories. She was really gonna burn the whole lot, which sucks considering these used to be Marc Jacobs jeans.

Pouting at the fact that her jeans were completely destroyed her eyes snap to her father who was now watching her.

Slowly a sad smile fills her eyes and she quickly stands shaking Xander off she limps over to her father who quickly walks over to her and hugs her tightly.

The 23-year-old Slayer holds onto her father tightly, for so long in that place she had thought he was dead, and it was the worse feeling in the world, she had already lost her mom, she couldn't lose him as well. He was all she had left, her and Dawn hadn't spoken in months and Xander despite still being here; was more distant with her since Willow's death and since killing Amy, but her dad was her rock.

He always had been.

"I thought you were dead." She sobs into his armoured chest.  
Tony holds tightly onto his daughter, being careful not to hurt her as he runs his hand through her hair. Blinking back tears he smiles at having his kid back, "I'm not going anywhere, not again."

Buffy pulls back and smiles allowing tears to drip past her cheeks before she glances at May and Rhodey "What's going on?" She asks knowing very well the look on their faces meant something was wrong.

Rhodey sighs at his God-daughter before looking in-between her and Tony "We gotta make a decision. We can either save the president, or Pepper. We can't do both."  
"What?!" Buffy exclaims, they couldn't be serious "No! We're not making that choice."  
Rhodey sighs and stands facing the young Slayer "Buffy..."  
"No—"

Suddenly Jarvis' voice pipes in through the room making May's eyes widen "We've been hacked! I swear to god if it's that stupid Rising Tide—"

"It's Jarvis." Buffy says with a big grin as she cuts the Agent off, she had never been so happy in all her life to hear the familiar A.I's voice.

 _"_ _Pleasure to hear you are safe Miss Summers. You and Mr Stark should know I have a update from Malibu, the cranes have finally arrived and the cellar doors are being cleared as we speak."_

Buffy frowns in confusion and glances at her father Tony "What does that mean?"  
"Something good." The billionaire tells his daughter before he moves over towards the battery in the corner and unplugs himself from it. "What about the suit I'm wearing?" he asks Jarvis.

 _"_ _The armour is now at 92%."_

Buffy's eyes widen as Tony shrugs "That's gonna have to do."  
"What!" She hisses at him "No, you are not doing something stupid while your suit is not at full function."

* * *

"You have no right to summon us again!" The Wolf screams at the young goddess as she strolls into the large white room as though she owned it, the confidence was oozing from her, something so different from the person she was in her past life.

The Ram and Hart stand as well, moving to stand beside the Wolf, the three of them standing together united as they faced evil herself.  
Lilith tilts her head at the three of them before she begins walking back and fourth in front of them, a deadly smirk crossing her lips.  
"Things seem to have changed."

The wolf frowns and moves towards the devil "What does that mean?"  
"It means..." Lilith pauses for dramatic effect as she moves to stand directly in front of the demon "...that you are of little use."

The Ram and Hart move forward abruptly and glare at the raven haired woman "We had a deal. We provide you with warriors, with an army and you belong to us!"

Lilith smirks before suddenly she forces her hand into the Wolf's chest before ripping out his heart.  
As the demon crumbles to the ground Lilith turns to face the now shocked Ram and Hart "The deal is done. You all work for me now, your power, your armies, they belong to us. Any questions?"

* * *

"You can't do this!" Buffy yells as her and her father continue to argue, while the other three people on the jet merely watched the screaming match between the pair unfold.

Tony sighs and places his hands on his worried daughter's shoulders, he knew why she was screaming and angry, because he was to.  
He was angry at having to be away from her again for even the smallest moment but they had no option. "Buffy I'll be fine."  
"You don't know that." The blonde argues as she shakes her head before she glances around the room looking for any form of weapon that she could use.

Spotting a large array of knives in the corner she moves towards it and begins grabbing them.

Tony's eyes widen "What the hell are you doing?" He asks as he walks over to her and takes the knives off her, almost as though he was confiscating toys from a child.  
Buffy rolls her eyes at her father, there was no way in hell she was going to let him going into the dragon's nest alone "I'm going with you." She tells him simply, leaving no room for argument.  
Tony shakes his head "No you're not."  
"Yes I am, I'm not gonna let you do something stupid alone and get yourself killed!"

Tony groans in annoyance and grabs her shoulder's again "You are no going, you may be healing fast but Buffy you were practically dead 10 minutes ago!"  
"I don't care!"  
Tony growls and throws his arms up in frustration "What don't you get! I can't lose you again!"

Buffy freezes and water fills her eyes as she spots the broken look on her father's face, it was in that moment she realises just how hard this must have been for him because... she died.

She had been dead for months and he had had to deal with her death, and here she was after almost facing death again, prepared to get herself killed.

Tony sighs and looks at his daughter with such broken eyes "Not again. I lost you once, I almost lost you again. I'm not risking you...not for anyone."  
Buffy remains frozen for a few moments before she quickly hugs her father holding onto him tightly. "You're not gonna lose me." She whispers hoping to God that she could keep the promise this time.

"Sorry to interrupt the father daughter bonding but we have a problem." May tells them, her voice drawing the two's attention "The Air Force has been compromised."  
Buffy frowns "How did yo—"  
"SHIELD has access into every communication system on the planet, I had one of the hackers patch me in while you two were having your moment."

At the Agent's words Buffy and Tony remain in shock before an idea comes to Buffy, pulling back she stares at her father with wide eyes "Give me a screwdriver and your helmet!"


	25. Chapter 25

As her father sits in one of the smaller rooms currently remote controlling the Mark 42, which was currently flying towards the President's plane, Buffy remains in the control room with May.

The plane was on autopilot now with Xander currently sat in the pilot seat, having a little bit of experience with flying cause of the military knowledge in his brain, it may be faded but it was still there.

So here they were, the Agent and The Slayer, sat side by side as they watched the camera footage being synched from Stark's suit.  
Buffy sighs and rubs her sore side before lifting up her blood covered shirt to look at the wound, which was rapidly healing.  
She frowns, she hadn't been able to heal for days but now it was as thought her powers were just kicking into overdrive, like she had triggered some super healing thing inside of her.

"You're healing fast." May points out as Buffy lowers the shirt groaning slightly at the now hard material, which just felt nasty because of all the dried blood.  
Buffy nods "Too fast." She mumbles, yes, having her injuries healing was great but it didn't make any sense, she should be dead, and she didn't like the fact that she didn't know why or how she was still alive.

May frowns, knowing from the look on the young woman's face that she was scared at what was happening, her powers were expanding and quickly.  
Sighing she takes in the sight of the blood covered girl, before placing a hand on Buffy's back "Come on." She says as she leads the blonde to the other end of the room.  
Buffy frowns but merely follows May who leads her over to a large metal panel, when she glances at May making it clear she was confused May merely smiles at her and raises the panel.

Buffy lets out a long breath "You guys really do like your symbols." The Slayer says with a small laugh as she stares at the Shield suit in front of her.  
"We all keep spares. I'm sure Agent Morse won't mind, but you need to get out of those clothes." She says gesturing to the blood-covered outfit.  
Buffy glances down at her ruined clothes before focusing on the suit in front of her, at least it wasn't all leather like Natasha's.

"Guy's the plane just blew up!" Xander exclaims causing Rhodey and May to run back towards the control room where on the screen the Mark 42 was catching the people falling through the sky, almost like trying to catch monkey in a barrel.  
"Come on Stark." May whispers as she watches the screen wishing that they were close enough so that they could help but at this point in time that suit was on it's own.

Rhodey, May and Xander all sigh in relief as the suit carefully places everyone from the plane in the water saving in them.

"And splat." Buffy mumbles as she walks into the room, now wearing Agent Bobbi Morse' suit that May was lending her.  
The blonde couldn't help but wince as she watches the Mark 42 get shattered to pieces as a truck crashes into it.  
Sighing she shakes her head "And this is why he shouldn't make suits without me."

"You look awesome!" Xander exclaims suddenly making Buffy laugh softly before she makes her towards the room where her father was unhooking himself from the controls.  
"So?" She asks as she leans against the doorway and crosses her arms waiting to hear if he was able to save the President.  
Tony sighs "They got him."  
Buffy groans and moves over to her dad knowing that he was panicking, he hadn't been able to save the President with the suit.

How were they going save Pepper with nothing?

Placing an arm on his shoulder she offers him a small smile trying to hide her worry "We will find her."  
Tony looks up at his daughter and smiles sadly before thinking for a moment "Uh...say, Jarvis, is it that time?"  
Buffy's eyes widen at the question directed at the A.I, he couldn't be series "You don't mean?"

"Yep. So jar?"  
 _"_ _The House Party protocol sir?"_  
Buffy groans before turning to her dad "I best be getting a new suit if this is gonna be happening."

* * *

Pepper gasps as she wakes and instead of waking up in her bed back at the beach house where all that had happened in the past few days had been a nightmare, she woke up with Aldrich staring at her with a creepy smile on his face, as the red serum passes through her body.

As her eyes land on him she couldn't help but glare at him "Where's Buffy?" She hisses as she begins struggling against the binds.  
Killian merely sighs "Don't worry, I'll make sure you see her before she's gone. As long as Tony does as we ask."  
Pepper scoffs as she watches him, he really was insane "You think he's gonna help you?"

Slowly water fills her eyes as she shakes her head "He won't."  
Killian merely tilts his head at her in interest before moving closer "Having you here is not just to motivate Tony Stark or Buffy. Well, it's actually more embarrassing than that...you're here as my..." As he stutters Pepper's eyes widen in disgust "...trophy." He finally finishes chuckling softly to himself.  
Pepper gulps softly feeling sick to her stomach, however, quickly the sound of two metal feet landing on the ground make her freeze. Turning her head she spots the Iron Patriot walking towards Killian, however, before hope could hit her the suit opens revealing the President.

Killian smirks "Welcome aboard Mr. President."

* * *

Buffy attaches the batons she had found on the plane to her hips before she turns to look out the window, they were getting closer to where Pepper was being kept.

And Buffy knew one thing, the first thing she was going to do when she found Killian, was to tear him to shreds.  
Taking a deep breath Buffy forces her mind out of the dark trauma threatening to consume her, focusing on the mission at hand. She closes her eyes allowing her mind to focus on finding and saving Pepper.

However, a large ringing draws her attention, pausing she spots her phone which somehow May had been able to find, on the table buzzing softly.  
Frowning she grabs it and brings it to her ear "Yeah?"  
 _"_ _Buffy."_ Selene says with a relieved sigh _"Glad to hear you're alright."_

Buffy smiles at the witch' voice "Thanks Selene."  
 _"_ _No problem...look Buffy I know this is probably not a great time but that organisation you asked me to look into...Centipede I found something."_

Buffy's eyes widen and she quickly flashes back to her agreement with a certain Ghost Rider, she couldn't help but exhale loudly, that had only been a few days ago a week or two at most, yet here she was and it felt like a lifetime.  
Running a shaky hand through her hair she takes a deep breath before making a quick decision "I'll send him to you."  
 _"_ _Okay...these people are bad...I'll help him, no matter what it takes."_  
Buffy smiles "Thanks Selene. Take care of yourself." She says quickly before hanging up the phone.

Buffy places her phone on the table before glancing around the control room, on one end of the room Tony, Rhodey and May were lining up an array of weapons along the table, preparing for the battle.  
Sighing Buffy's eyes fall on Xander who couldn't even look at a gun right now and she knew exactly why, in just a few days Xander had killed Amy, had found out about several Slayers being dead and had killed humans trying to save her.  
It was tainting him and he was too good for this.  
Taking a deep breath she moves towards her best friend "Xander." She says softly drawing his attention away from the wall he was staring at.

When he spots her he smiles only to frown when he realises that she wasn't smiling back which could only mean that something was definitely wrong here. "Buff you okay?"  
Buffy sighs "Thank you so much for coming to save Xander...but I need you to go home."  
"Wait what?" He asks in shock she couldn't be serious "I'm not just gonna leave you to head into war alone."  
"I'm not alone. And you've already done so much."

Taking a shaky breath she takes her best friends hands in hers "You have gone against your own beliefs, and I know you won't admit it but killing Amy and what happened to Kennedy and the others...it's killing you. Turning you into someone you shouldn't be. Let me take that burden. I can deal with taking a life. You shouldn't have to have that on you. So go home and be the great man you are meant to be, the leader. No one else but you can run the Slayer Organisation. Don't let my life destroy that good in you. I need you save."

"Buffy..." Xander tries but she merely hugs him tightly, hating the fact that this was goodbye, it may not be forever, but it was very clear that with everything that has happened they will never be the same and honestly they both needed time apart.  
Slowly Xander pulls away and nods "I'll have Selene transport me back to England."


	26. Chapter 26

Buffy twirls the batons in her hands as her May, Tony and Rhodey all move onto the docks and quickly hide behind the large metal container.

As she twirls the batons in her hands Buffy can't help but grin, honestly there was a very good chance that Agent Morse would not be getting these back, they were awesome.

Buffy moves in-between her father and her God-father before peaking around the container currently hiding them all "Two guards."  
She whispers to May who nods and grabs the Icer she had snuck out of the tech lab a few months ago, apparently the designer was adamant that it was called a Night Night gun but there was no way she was calling it that.

"You're not gonna freak out on us, right?" Rhodey asks his God-Daughter in worry, honestly she should be in a hospital bed right now.  
Buffy shrugs "I hope not." She tells them just as May moves in front of Buffy and shoots the two guards with perfect accuracy, knocking them out cold.

Tony and Rhodey stare at the small agent in shock "Wow." Tony whispers while Rhodey grins "Is she single?"  
"Never gonna happen." May says simply before heading forward while Buffy giggles softly before following after her.  
The four make their way around the large loading area, looking for any sign of Pepper or the President but there was nothing.

Buffy groans in annoyance but quickly spots another guard moving towards them, stepping up behind him she kicks him in the gut causing him to grunt and then she grabs the back of his neck and slams his head into a metal crate knocking him out.  
Buffy grins before lifting the guard up and quickly hiding his body inside the crate before gesturing for the other three to join her.

The four of them stand in a line leaning against the outside of the crate as they remain shielded from sight.  
Slowly Rhodey peers behind the corner only for his eyes to widen at the sight before him, chained about 50-feet off the ground in the Iron Patriot suit was The President, he was hovering over an oil tanker which could only mean one thing. "He's strung up over the oil tanker." Rhodey informs the others with a sigh as he turns back to them "They're gonna light him up."

May frowns in confusion and glances around the corner as well to watch the President who remains motionless as he hangs there, she merely frowns in confusion "Why isn't he using the suit?"  
Buffy groans "Marcus." She realises "He must have a witch or someone with powers focused on keeping that suit down. We take out Marcus that takes out the problem with the no flighto."  
"I don't see Marcus." Tony mumbles "My bet he won't be too far. They're going for a public execution here, he'll wanna be nearby when it happens."  
Buffy sighs "How long till the party squad gets to town?" She asks her father who merely groans "Not soon enough." He moans before the four of them are on the move again.

* * *

 ** _"_** ** _Broadcast will commence shortly."_**  
As the words leave the PA filling the docks Buffy follows after her father as the four of them quickly head up the stairs, they were running out of time, they needed to get to the President and find Pepper.  
 ** _"_** ** _Take final positions."_**

Buffy frowns at that, she glances at May who had the same worried look on her face that the Slayer was wearing.  
Buffy groans and twists the batons in her hands, her finger hovering over the electricity setting at the top of them.  
"You got your gun up?" Rhodey asks causing both May and Buffy to glance back at Tony who was the only not holding up their weapon.  
"Dad." Buffy hisses before rolling her eyes as he raises the gun "Keep your finger off the trigger or you'll shoot yourself in the face."

Tony visible groans at the idea before sighing "What next?"  
"Try not to get yourself killed." May states bluntly before she begins firing her gun and grabs Buffy's arm pulling her out of the line of fire.  
Buffy's eyes widen and she sighs, looks like it had begun.

Glancing over at her shoulder she spots the men currently firing at them, running at wall she ignores May yelling at her and flips through the air landing on the floor above.  
Diving out of the way as guns are fired at her, she lands behind a nearby wall and crouches down.  
Groaning she reaches for the knife in her boot and after a deep breath she rolls across the ground and launches the blade towards the two gunman.

Taking her chance she runs towards the first one just as the knife buries itself in his wrist. Buffy leaps up wrapping her leg around his neck, wrapping it tightly around him, he gags for breath allowing her to grab the blade and drive it into his neck before she does a backflip flipping his body through the air, sending it crashing into the other guard.

As the guard stumbles Buffy grabs her batons and comes up behind him, holding the batons to his neck she sends waves of electricity through his system.

* * *

"You're daughter is insane!" May hisses as she ducks behind the concrete wall beside Tony and Rhodey.  
Tony merely grins proudly before firing his gun and then quickly ducking back down "You see that? Nailed it."  
Rhodey rolls his eyes "Yeah, you really killed the glass."

"You're both idiots." Another voice says and the three quickly aim their weapons at the voice only to sigh as they spot Buffy watching them all.  
"I have a bum leg and spent days getting tortured yet you two can't shoot straight?" She asks gesturing to her God-father and her dad who both give glare at her words.

Sighing she bends down next to May and groans "I miss my scythe."  
"Oh I'm sorry I couldn't bring it when our house was being destroyed!" Tony exclaims in annoyance only making Buffy glare at him, if they were gonna get into an argument about who had the worse week, she would win.

"Will you two grow up!" May hisses as she reloads her gun while Rhodey shakes his head in amusement "I like you."  
"I know." She merely says before raising her arm and without looking she fires a bullet at the light bulb behind them "Now...I'm ready to kick some ass."

Tony scoffs, right now he felt like the weak link, with the super assassin, the army man and his super-powered daughter.  
He needed to find a way to have the suit like come out of his skin or something useful like that.

"I'm out." He realises as he checks his weapon before turning to Rhodey "Give me...you got an extra magazines?"  
Rhodey rolls his eyes "They're not universal, Tony."

May turns to Buffy in astonishment "This is the man that ran a weapons company?"  
Buffy shrugs, she didn't get it either, he should know the basics "Pepper ran the place."

"Little women shh." Tony hisses before turning back to Rhodey "I know what I'm doing, I make this stuff. Give me another one. One of yours."  
"I don't have one that fits that gun." Rhodey argues while Tony merely continues to talk back like a child. "You've got like five of them."

Buffy sighs and her and May glance at each other "Do you get the feeling this would be so much easier if we just did everything?"  
May shrugs "I'm pretty sure we are doing everything."  
"Fair point."

Tony groans in annoyance, he was really looking forward to this being over and May and Buffy no longer hanging out every second, torturing him with their super-like banter and sarcasm.

Suddenly Buffy sits up straight making all of them pause "What?" Rhodey asks turning to the blonde.  
Buffy merely closes her eyes, somehow she could hear them, yes her hearing had always been good but it had never been this good "There's three of them." She breaths out before opening her eyes and standing, her eyes widening at the sight of the three extremis soldiers running towards them "Not good."

Tony, May and Rhodey all stand, their expression mirroring Buffy's "Not good." May repeats before glancing at her gun "This isn't gonna be enough." "  
You're right." Tony says as all four of them prepare of what was about to come "We need backup."  
"Thank you captain obvious." Buffy hisses in annoyance before she turns to her father who gestures the a bright light in the sky moving towards them.

Her eyes widen as she realises the Calvary had arrived and not the one stood next to her but the one her dad had been building since she died the last time.  
"Is that..." Rhodey says but Tony cuts him off.  
"Yep."  
Buffy grins "Tell me one of those is mine."  
"Yep. You'll like it very Wonderwoman esc."  
"Cool."

May merely stares in astonishment as hundreds of Iron Man suits begin appearing circling around the dock filling the sky, there was no way Fury knew about this, but it was amazing, she had never seen anything like this.

"Jarvis." Tony says drawing the three's attention "Target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice."  
 _"_ _Yes Sir."_ Every suit repeats before all hell breaks loose.

"Beast Christmas ever!" Buffy grins just as one of the suits appears in front of her.  
 _"Miss Summers. Merry Christmas."_ Jarvis says before the suit hands her a large wrapped box.

Buffy grins and opens the box only for her eyes to widen as instead of a suit there were two gauntlet type bracelets, frowning she glances at her father who was grinning like an excited manic.

When he gestures at the bracelets she shakes her head in amusement before placing them on.

At first there is nothing, but slowly the gauntlets begin releasing a red liquid around her arms, slowly it spreads upwards making Buffy frown "Okay, not liking this. It's icky."  
"Buffy shut up and enjoy the magic!" Her father hisses.

Buffy shakes her head before glancing down at her suit: a corset type metal armour in dark rustic red and silver was now around her, black leather trousers with thigh length metal platform boots.  
There was a silver strap across her chest which was lined with different small devices, electrical weapons.  
There was an arc reactor type thing in the middle of the belt around her hips and when Buffy lets out a small breath and touches the gauntlets two large blades are released.

One from each arm.

"Nice." She breaths before she hears the familiar wave of the scythe coming towards her.

"Come to Mama." She breaths before leaping upwards, she flips through the air and catches the scythe in her grasp before landing in a crouched position on the floor below.

As she looks up Tony just grins, he knew she would never go for the whole Iron Man suit type thing so he mixed in a bit of warrior woman with his own tech, it was very battle warrior, the only thing missing was the new wig but he doubted she cared about that right now.  
"Damn I'm good." He breaths as he watches his daughter stand "The metal on the chest plate and the boots are bullet proof, those gauntlet can release strong combusts of energy, they feed off your strength. If you slam your arms together it uses the force of your strength to create a burst of energy. Plus figured you'd like the swords."

"Best dad ever." She grins before flipping backwards onto the ground below and beginning to fight.  
Tony grins "By the way there are launches in the boots but they don't work yet!"  
Buffy shakes her head in amusement before her body goes flying as an explosion goes off near her.

She slams into a nearby concrete wall, her body leaving a dent.  
Sighing she watches as one of the suits quickly gets underneath one of the crumbling buildings keeping it steady.  
Buffy sighs and as her dad suits up Buffy turns to May "Here!" She yells tossing the batons at May who catches them with ease and quickly turns to fight one of the soldiers.

"Go!" May yells at Buffy "Find Pepper!"  
Buffy hesitates for a moment not wanting to leave May but the older Agent gives her a very motherly pointed look.

Buffy sighs before leaping up onto the next platform only to groan as two extremis soldiers block her path "Really?" She asks in annoyance but twirling the scythe in her grasp.  
"Sorry boys, I have other plans so lets make this quick." She suggests before they run at her.

Buffy ducks under their punches and kicks, twirling her leg out her metal covered foot hits one of them in the chest sending him flying backwards, she grins and launches the scythe towards him as he flies, cutting through him easily.  
Despite the fact that she didn't like it when her dad touched her things she was very much happy for the magnetic stuff he had put on her scythe allowing her to call it back to her.

As it flies back towards her Buffy raises her arm blocking the foot of the next solider, grabbing onto his leg she catches the scythe with her other hand and drives it through his leg removing it, before she pushes him off the building.

Once they were dealt with Buffy runs forward "Talk to me Jar!"  
 _"_ _I have located Miss Potts."_  
Buffy nods and is about to ask him where only for a hard body to connect with hers sending her flying off the platform and onto the floor below.

Buffy winces as her body connects with the hard floor and the scythe goes flying out of her reach, turning onto her side her eyes widen as she spots Marcus moving towards her with a smirk on his face "Hello Miss Summers."

* * *

Tony glances around the half destroyed room that Jarvis had lead him to, turning his head his eyes widen in panic as he doesn't spot Pepper straight away.  
Walking around quickly he searches for the woman he loves only to sigh in relief as he spots her.

Moving towards her his eyes fill with concern as he realises that she was buried underneath piles of metal and rubble.  
Quickly moving to her rescue Pepper suddenly gasps in panic and pain making him pause

"Stop! Put it down. Put it down. Put it down!" She orders.  
Tony sighs and bends down allowing the mask to raise so that she could see it was actually him, "See what happens when you hang out with my ex-girlfriends?" He jokes clearly not realising that this was not the time for this.  
"You're a jerk." She breaths.  
"Yeah, we'll talk about it over dinner." He mumbles as he reaches out a hand towards her, hoping to pull her to safety.

Pepper winces sobbing softly as she shakily reaches out her hand towards him "Is Buffy okay?" She sobs out as she struggles to move.  
Tony nods trying to keep her calm "She's okay. Got her new suit, kicking ass out there so that we can get you out of here."  
Pepper smiles softly happy to hear that the girl she had come to consider her own was okay, however suddenly a scream escapes her as a glowing orange hand comes busting through the floor and grabs onto Tony yanking the core of the suit.  
Tony groans in pain as he is sent stumbling back just as Killian pulls himself through the floor and walks over to Tony standing above him.

"Don't get up." Killian tells Tony as he raises a glowing hand and presses his index finger onto the chest of the Iron Man suit causing it to begin burning red hot inside, sending beads of sweat down Tony's forehead.  
"Is it hot in there?" Killian taunts "Stuck? Do you feel stuck? Like a little turtle, cooking in his little turtle suit."  
"Tony." Pepper calls out weakly only making Killian grin widen as Tony continues to grunt in pain, the heat becoming unbearable.  
"She's watching." Killian tells him "I think you should close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. You don't want to see this."

Suddenly a loud gun shot goes off from behind them and Killian stumbles.

Tony looks up and spots Melinda May moving towards him with a large blade in her hand.

Kicking Killian in the chest she forces him off Tony and when the manic growls and runs at her she flips to the side slicing off his arm with the blade in the process.  
"You!" Killian growls while May merely allows the blade to stand beside her.  
"Me." She hisses before leaping up and attacking him again.

Tony watches in amazement before he realises that Killian's severed limb was now burning a hole straight into the ground and Pepper was going through it.

"Pepper!"

* * *

Buffy hisses in pain as Marcus' hand connects with her chest again sending her flying backwards.  
Rolling over her shoulder she moves to quickly stand and releases the blades from her gauntlets, leaping through the air she spins the blades through the air at him but Marcus was too fast.

It was like he could see every movement before she even took a step.

Growling she runs at him again and as she lowers the blades he merely catches the blades in his palm before backhanding her across the face.  
Buffy groans as she stumbles but when he wraps a hand around her neck and raises her off the ground she finds herself frozen.  
Struggling against his tight hold as he chokes her she coughs while he merely tilts his head at her "You are a good warrior. But you cannot defeat us."  
"Screw you suits!" Buffy yells before she headbutts him, luckily for her she took him off guard, so quickly she places her feet on his chest and forces herself into a flip.

The blonde flips through the air before landing gracefully on her feet.

Raising her hand she calls the scythe to her and as she clasps to cool metal in her arms she twirls it before facing Marcus once again "Let's dance."

* * *

Tony glances over at May who was moving in on Killian, when the Agent notices him watching her she rolls her eyes knowing that he was hesitant to leave her alone with Aldrich "Go!" She yells before twirling the blade in her hand and swinging her leg out kicking Killian in the head, knocking him down again.

Tony takes her word and runs down the stairs trying to get onto the level Pepper had fallen to.

Running as fast as he can he leaps off the small balcony onto the next one, just narrowly missing the suit flying past his head.  
Looking over he spots the level Pepper was on slowly moving towards another level, if the two made contact it would kill her on impact.

"Jarvis get me a suit now!"

* * *

Buffy swings herself through the air, her body flipping through the air before she lands on the ground again right opposite Marcus.  
Running towards him she swings her leg around before sucker punching him across the face.

She raises her other fist intent on doing it again but Marcus catches her fist in his palm and then sucker punches her across the face while still keeping ahold of her.  
Buffy grunts as Marcus' fist connects with her face before connecting her gut, she grunts again in agony as he grabs the back of her neck and slams his knee onto her face.

As he pushes her back she wobbles feeling the wind knocked out of her, spitting out the blood in her mouth she moves to attack again but he merely grabs her and lifts her off the ground before walking over to a nearby piece of scrap metal and slamming her body against it violently.

Dropping her body to the ground Marcus looks down at the blonde and forces a foot onto her neck completely cutting off her circulation.

* * *

May ducks out of the way of Killian's hands, she knew if he got his hands on her he would burn her and that would be it for her.  
Swinging her blade again she attempts to slice him again knowing it would slow him down but he merely watches her in interest. "A true warrior you are." He taunts as his limb begins re growing themselves making her eyes widen in horror.  
"Such a shame." He says with a chuckle before he raises his hand sending a large burst of energy towards her.

May's eyes widen and before she could stop it the blast connects with her chest sending her flying off the platform.

May grunts as she goes crashing down the metal stairs onto the next level, as her body turns she clutches onto her rib and cries out in pain.  
Groaning in agony she turns her head only to spot Killian making his way to where Tony was "No." She breaths before a worse horror fills her vision.

Buffy currently being chocked to death "Buffy!"

* * *

 _"_ _President is secure Tony. I'm clearing the area."  
_

At the sound of Rhodey's voice Tony sighs in relief "Nice work." He breaths before beginning to move towards the area where Pepper was still hanging on for dear life.

Not realising that his only daughter was about to be killed again, his entire focus was on helping save Pepper.

Finally he manages to get to a position where he was high enough to reach her "Pep, it's me. I got you."  
She breaths in relief as he reaches out his hand towards her, but she was just slightly out of reach.  
Pepper screams and groans as the barely there platform she was currently holding onto continues to shake, it would fall apart any minute leaving her to crash to the ground below and perish.  
"Honey, I can't reach any further and you can't stay there." Tony says in a panic as he continues to reach for her, ignoring the blood dripping down his face as his fear over losing Pepper fills him "You've got to let go."

When Pepper shakes her head in fear he groans knowing that they didn't have long left "You've got to let go! I'll catch you, I promise."

Suddenly the platform holding her up shakes violently and Pepper loses her grip and begins falling.

Everything in that moment felt as though it had slowed right down as Tony scrambled to catch the woman he loved only to miss her by a mere centimeter causing her to go crashing into the fire pit bellow "Noooo!"

* * *

"Buffy!"

May's voice screaming her name makes the half conscious Slayer awaken slightly, her eyes widen as she spots the Agent laid about 15 feet away from her badly burnt and bruised.

Wincing she attempts to move only for Marcus to kick her in the stomach making the blonde grunt, Marcus merely chuckles at her agony "A new suit, new strength but still weak. I don't know why she's fears you so much. I will end you now and prove exactly how weak you are."

Buffy grunts again and places her hands on his feet trying to force him off her but she couldn't, however suddenly something in the corner of her eye draws her attention, Pepper Potts, the woman who had helped her and comforted her after her mother's death, the woman who had helped her with her emotional struggles, the woman who had taken on the motherly role in her life, was currently falling to her death.

Buffy's eyes widen in horror and tears fall down her cheeks as Pepper dives into the fire "Nooo! Pepper!" Buffy screams before a loud sob escapes her as the reality that Pepper was dead hits her.

"Look at that." Marcus taunts "Another person you love is dead. You really are a magnet for death."

Buffy looks back at Marcus her eyes filling with murder and rage and in that moment for the first time in his life, Marcus felt fear.  
Before he could realise what was happening Buffy yanks on his leg and then raising her hand summons the scythe to her.  
Catching it in her palm she slices his leg causing him to cry out in agony, Buffy quickly takes her chance flipping her body back up; she kicks him in the face in process.

As he stumbles the blonde Slayer grabs onto a nearby metal chain and swings it at him allowing it to wrap around his stomach.

As the fire surrounds her, the fiery blonde yanks on the chain pulling Marcus off his feet before she leaps into the air as high as she can before swinging the chain again causing Marcus to fly through the air before crashing onto the concrete ground.

As he rives in pain Buffy grabs the scythe and stands moving towards him she glares down at his injured body while he merely laughs up blood as he attempts to stand. "You won't kill me." He taunts "It's not in your nature."

Buffy glares at him as he stands fully "It's time I except my true nature." She hisses before raising her arms and slamming the gauntlets together as hard as she can and just like her father had said a large burst of power escaped from them, sending Marcus flying backwards, shattering every bone in his body.

As he crumbles to the ground Buffy moves towards him, grabbing the scythe she raises the stake end and drives it into his heart.

Marcus grunts in shock but keeps eye contact with the blonde, with all his knowledge on her he was so sure she would never take a life.  
But it seemed as though things had changed.

All this darkness and torture and loss had tainted her soul.

"You think you've won."  
"I have won nothing!" Buffy hisses as tears roll down her cheeks "I have been left with nothing! You have taken everything from me! This is a mercy killing, I should make you suffer a million times over."

Marcus laughs "You think you know so much."  
Looking into her eyes he holds a hand to his chest, he could feel his heartbeat slowing and knew it would be only moments now "She knows your every weakness."

Buffy pauses at that remembering back to the mentions of a mystery woman, a master all of them had been answering to, this woman was responsible for all of this "Who?"  
Marcus merely grins "You'll see." He breaths before taking his final breath.

Buffy remains there for a moment crouched over his dead body, swallowing loudly she moves away and stares at the blood on her hands.  
Taking a shaky breath her eyes are quickly drawn back to the hurt May "Melinda!"

* * *

 _"_ _The Mark 42 is inbound."_ Jarvis' voice echoes making the heartbroken Tony take a sigh of disbelief "I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns."  
That suit was his last chance, for the past few minutes he had been battling Killian who had ripped apart and destroyed majority of the suits now.

Holding out his arm prepared for the suit to join him he groans in annoyance as the whole thing falls apart at his feet "Whatever." He sighs, this really could not get any worse now.

"You didn't deserve her." Killian's voice echoes as the glowing man stares down at the injured Stark who rolls his eyes at the comment.  
"It's a pity. I was so close to having her perfect." Killian leaps down onto Tony's platform and merely grins "You're daughter...healed from everything we did. That...that is something so incredible. How's she's yours I'll never understand."  
"You and me both." Tony mumbles because sometimes he wondered how he had ended up with such a selfless brave child when he was...well him.

Tony's self pity was quickly brought to a screeching halt as he spots Killian moving towards him "Woah, woah, wait, wait. You're right. I don't deserve her." He says making the smug Killian pause "Here's where you're wrong. She was already perfect. And my daughter...is extraordinary."

Raising his arm Tony catches Killian off guard who doesn't expect the parts of the Mark 42 to begin flying at him catching onto his body, yanking him off the ground.  
As the suit begins taking form around Killian Tony grins "Jarvis, do me a favour. Blow Mark 42."

And with that Tony runs as fast as he can down the platform before leaping into the sky and jumping into a nearby suit just as the Mark 42 explodes causing majority of the building on the dock to crumble to the ground.

As Tony drops to the ground his eyes widen as he spots his injured daughter helping a hurt Melinda May "Buffy!" He yells as he runs towards her ignoring his own injuries as her speeds towards her.

Buffy glances over at her dad and takes a shaky breath "Dad!" She yells back as he runs over and hugs her tightly.  
"You're okay." He breathes as he pulls back before turning his head to look past the two injured women where Marcus was laid with the stake still embedded in his chest. "What happened?"  
"It doesn't matter." She assures him as she looks back at him, tears rolling down her face "Dad, Pepper."  
"I know." He says sadly the sorrow filling him, making him want to break down in tears.

May hesitates before placing a hand on the billionaire's shoulder, Tony slightly stunned smiles at the small Agent's gesture and grabs her hand squeezing it slightly.

The three remain there for a moment before Buffy spots a burning figure coming out of the flames.  
Her eyes widen as she spots Killian's healing burnt body moving towards them, pushing her dad and May behind her Buffy lowers her arm allowing one of the blades to lower itself into her palm as she prepares to defend the only family she had left.

However before she had to Pepper Potts appeared behind Killian, her body glowing like his, as she slams a metal pipe into his body sending him flying.  
Buffy lets out a loud joyful sob "Pepper." She breaths in relief.

Killian growls and runs at Pepper throwing her backwards, Buffy hisses in fury and moves to protect the red head however a burning chain suddenly appears in the middle of Killian's chest.

Buffy's eyes widen as Killian falls and there standing behind him, his skull burning brightly just like the last time she had seen him, was Johnny Blaze.  
The Ghost Rider nods at Buffy before he grabs ahold of Killian, holding him tightly by the neck all four of them watch as Johnny burns Killian's flesh completely from his body before burning his bones, leaving nothing but dust.

"I got nothing." Tony breathes while Buffy merely stares in shock as Johnny's burning skull slowly disappears revealing the attractive blonde male.

Johnny smirks at her before launching the chain again this time catching the Iron Man suit that had been flying towards Pepper. He tears the suit to pieces with the chain before focusing on Buffy "Figured you'd get yourself into trouble."  
Buffy lets out a stunned breath "Johnny, what the hell is your burning biker ass doing here."

Johnny laughs before nodding at the other stunned adults, moving towards Buffy he smiles at the woman in front of him "I'm a flaming thing. You were fighting flaming things..."  
Buffy laughs softly as she realises what must have happened "Xander and Selene."  
"Yep." The leather jacket-wearing blonde says to the female blonde "They knew you'd get yourself killed at some point."  
Buffy shakes her head in amusement and glances at the others, May was now on the phone while Pepper and Tony were off the the side speaking. "Thank you." She says honestly.

Johnny merely waves it off "Need you alive. You got my intel."  
Buffy shakes her head, of course, he really was a pain in her ass "Selene will help you, find out whatever you need. My resources in England are yours to use."  
"Thank you."  
Buffy merely shrugs "A promise is a promise."  
Johnny sighs and slowly starts moving backward towards his bike "I just hope my vengeance is over soon, it's time for someone else to take on the mantle."

Buffy frowns in confusion at his words but shakes it off, honestly she didn't want to know, too much had happened, all she wanted was a nap.  
As he climbs onto his bike she makes him pause "Will I see you again?"  
"Beats me blondie." He says with a shrug before smirking "But I'm pretty sure you'll see the Rider again."

And with that he speeds off into the distance.

Buffy watches him go before turning back towards May who was moving towards her "Do I want to know?"  
Buffy glances back at Johnny before turning to May and smiling "Probably not."  
Noticing the fact that the Agent was still hurt, Buffy moves to help keep her up and the two make their way over to Pepper and Tony.

"Dad what's going on?" Buffy asks as she spots the remaining suits beginning to self destruct, he couldn't actually be doing this, destroying everything.  
Tony turns to his daughter and smiles "It's time for my legacy...aka you...to take over. For good."

When Buffy merely frowns he throws an arm over her shoulder and the two watch as his suits continue to blow up.

As she watches Buffy leans her head on her father's shoulder "Did you actually destroy them all?" She whispers so Pepper wouldn't hear.  
Tony smiles smugly, she knew him too well "Oh please."


	27. Chapter 27

_**And so, as Christmas morning began, my journey had reached it's end.  
You start with something pure, something exciting.  
** **Then, come the mistakes.  
** **The compromises.**_  
 _ **We create our own demons...Buffy you know what I mean, don't look at me like that...yes I know that demons is a tough subject...can I just finish!**_

 _ **Anyway, as promised, I got Pepper sorted out.  
It took some tinkering.  
But then I thought to myself, why stop there?**_  
 _ **Of course, there are people that say progress is dangerous, but I'll bet none of those idiots ever had to live with a chestful of shrapnel.  
And now, neither will I.  
Let me tell you...that was the best sleep I've had in years.**_

Tony and Buffy walk up the edge of the cliff where their beach house had once been.

As she glances out at the horizon the blonde smiles, despite all that they didn't know, with what was happening to her and who this mystery woman was, things were good.  
Happy was okay, her dad was no longer at risk of dying because of the shrapnel in his chest and Pepper wasn't going to combust.

May had made it very clear to Fury that she would never be going into the field again but Buffy had managed to get a sneaky promise whereby if it was her that was asking there would be a conversation about it.

Smiling to herself Buffy for the first time since New York felt a sense of peace.

Of something good.

Turning her head she watches as her dad launches the metal that was once embedded in his chest into the ocean.

The sound of a motorcycle pulling up makes Buffy grin as she realises who had finally made it to the party.

"I'm gonna kill Fury." The mystery man says drawing their attention.

Tony and Buffy turn; both having very different reactions at the sight of Steve Rogers climbing off his motorcycle.  
Tony frowns and glances in-between his daughter and Rogers "Um..what—what what is he doing here? What are you doing here?" He asks as he questions the both of them.

Buffy rolls her eyes "Later dad."  
Tony's eyes widen and he shakes his head as he spots Buffy getting onto the back of Roger's motorcycle, he didn't like this, not one bit.  
He had already spent so long getting rid of her last boyfriend, she wasn't allowed to date like ever.  
Especially not _him._

"What is going on?!"  
"I'm showing Steve around L.A before I help him move into his new place in Washington." Buffy answers simply as Steve hands her a helmet.  
Tony shakes his head violently, this could not become a thing, if they became a thing it would give him a damn heart attack, plus he really didn't want to piss off all of the Avengers because he had to kill Rogers for touching his daughter.

"Buffy, get off the bike!"

"Bye dad, love you!" She calls before laughing as Steve takes off down the road.

Tony remains there with an unhappy glare on his face "Buffy Anne Summers Stark!" He exclaims only hearing her laugh louder.  
Groaning he kicks at the ground "I hate him."

 _ **So, if I were to wrap this up, tie it with a bow, or whatever...I'd say my armour, was never a distraction...or a hobby.** **It was a cocoon.**_  
 _ **And now, I'm a changed man.**_  
 _ **You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys.** **One thing you can't take away...**_

 _ **I am Iron Man.**_


	28. Post Credit Scene - 1

"I am Iron Man, really?" Buffy laughs in amusement as she sits on the leather chair opposite her father who was laid back on the couch comfortably.

Tony glares at his daughter before sitting up and turning to her, pointing a finger at her he shakes his head in disapproval "You...you need to stop interrupting my stories! You kept throwing me off track!"

"Not my fault your stories send all of us to sleep." She points out as she takes a bite of her sandwich before nodding her head towards her left.  
Where evidence of her point was passed out on the chair, Tony's long tale having sent him right to sleep.

Tony rolls his eyes, not believing a word, he was way too interesting for someone to fall asleep mid story, it just didn't make sense, just because everytime he told a story when she was a kid she nodded off doesn't mean that everyone did it.

"He's just a really good listener. Isn't that right Bruce?"

At the question being directed at him Buffy nudges Banner slightly who drops his glasses as he is abruptly awoken, rubbing his eyes and yawning slightly Tony's face falls while Buffy attempts to contain her laughter.

"You with me?" Tony asks "Were you actively napping."

Bruce turns to Buffy who merely shakes her head in amusement, turning back to Tony he stammers slightly, unsure of what to say "I-uum- I was-um- I drifted."  
"Where did I lose you?"  
"Elevator in Switzerland."  
Tony's eyes widen "So you missed all of it?"

Buffy rolls her eyes only for them to quickly widen in glee as she spots her phone ringing, quickly standing she moves to leave the room only for her dad to frown at her behaviour and make her pause.

"Woah where you going?"

Buffy groans, knowing he was going to kick off about this "It's Steve, give me a minute. He had a talk with Fury today about the whole forcing him to go on mission so he missed all our Brady bunch family drama."

Tony frowns while Bruce groans, knowing exactly what was about to go down here and honestly he really did not want to see Tony in overprotective father mode right now.  
"Steve?" Tony says in disgust before shaking his head "NO, his name is Grampa as is as old as yours. Give me the phone Buffy."

When he attempt to reach for her phone Buffy stares at him in astonishment, honestly how childish could he actually be "No."  
Tony groans and stands staring down at his daughter "No star spangle boys."  
Buffy rolls her "Go away, I'm an adult and we are friends."  
Tony scoffs "I don't care I forbid it."

Buffy rolls her eyes at that and turns around heading out of the room "Oh please." She laughs before leaving the room only having her dad follow her trying to get the phone away from her.

Banner watches the father daughter argument before dropping his head onto the couch "I'm in hell."


	29. Post Credit Scene - 2

Buffy gazes out of the window of Fury's office looking down at the city of Washington with an astonished expression on her face.  
Honestly, she had never been here before, there was so many places she wanted to see, but no, she was stuck in Fury's office being forced to watch the world go by in a bland grey office.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Fury asks her as he walks over to her with a leather wallet in his hand.

Buffy thinks back to her decision for a moment, was she sure?  
This would be a big change from what she was used to.  
Slowly knowing she was making the right choice she nods "I want in. But on my terms."

Fury nods trying to hide the grin as he hands her the wallet, the blonde frowns before opening it to reveal her new I.D: **Anne Summers – Level 8 – Field Operative**

"That will be your I.D on field missions. So you'll need to wear the wig and mask when you're in to do those. But because you're a public figure, to the public you are the security expert from Stark Industries working with SHIELD. You're degree in mechanics will help make that more believable."

Buffy who hadn't quite clocked the last part of Fury's sentence nodded, it made sense for her to have a separate identity for when she was on Field missions, only Level 8 operators knew who she was and there was nothing written down, there was no proof, so the fewer people that knew the better.

As she puts her new ID into her pocket Fury's final sentence hits her "How did you—"

Fury merely smirks, he knew everything, how was that even a question "I know you've been taking online classes at Columbia. Gonna go for your masters?"  
Buffy who was still stunned stammers, she didn't want anyone to know about this, it had just been for her "I—um..."

Fury chuckles before shaking his head and grabbing the file off the table, sensing she wanted to change the subject he hands The Slayer the file "Here's your first mission. I hear you've heard of Centipede."

Buffy frowns and flips open the file and there on the first page was the Centipede info Selene had dug up "Yeah, dealt with them a few months back with a friend. What do you know?"

"Not a lot." Fury admits not really liking that one bit, sighing he gestures to the picture on the second page "We don't know a lot about her...actually we don't know anything about her...but whatever Centepde is planning...she knows."

Buffy frowns and stares at the young girl who looked about her age, she had long brown hair and was probably half asian half American, she was pretty "Who is she?"

"She calls herself Skye."

Pausing Fury reaches into his desk and hands Buffy another file, this one larger than before.  
Buffy takes the file and frowns at the three numbers scrawled across the front: **0-8-4**

Quickly the director of SHIELD redraws her attention "You need to make sure she's not dangerous to this team...they're special."

Buffy frowns, Fury wasn't normally one to pick favourite, whoever this team was they must be pretty important "Who is this team?"

Fury hesitates really not wanting to get punched in the face when he admits this to her, gulping slightly he clenches his jaw and finally admits the truth "Agent Coulson's team."

Buffy remains silent at that, that had literally been the last thing she was expecting to hear, slowly her eyes widen considerably "What?!"

* * *

 **A/N: Okay guys thats it! The final chapter of part three! Hope you guys enjoyed this story and will tune in for my next one when it's poster: Code Name Slayer - Part 4: The Winter Solider.**

 **Also will be posting a side story for this series soon, which will include some of Buffy's cameos in other films as well as Willow/Lilith.**

 **Anyway thank you all for sticking with this story and hope to see you all soon!**

 **xxx**


	30. New Story

Hi everyone!

Just published the side story for this series!

Go have a look and comment, let me know if there are any other films or tv shows Buffy or Lilith should cameo in that you would love to see!


	31. Winter Soldier

Trailer now available for the next part of this series that I will start posting soon!

Kit Summers - Code Name Slayer : The Winter Soldier - Trailer

Also check out my new video for those of you who love the father daughter relationship in this series! - Kit Summers - She's Your Daughter.

Here is a small sneak peek of what is to come just to hold you over! Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 **WASHINGTON, SHIELD HEADQUARTERS**

"What will happen to him?" Buffy asks curiously as she and Fury stand in her office, yes he had after weeks of complaining given her her own office, but mainly just to keep her out of his.  
Plus it helped keep up appearances, as long as the world thought she was the acting Stark Industries consultant then no one would question why she was constantly seen heading in and out of the Shield headquarters over the world.

Sighing the director of Shield moves to stand beside the girl the two of them looking out of her window watching as one Mikael Peterson is brought into the medical bay.

Buffy couldn't help but feel for the man, she had heard what had happened, how Centipede had given him powers: increased strength and agility, however it had come with a price. Kind of like the extremis soldiers he had almost blown up till something had triggered it to stop. As she watches him she couldn't help but frown, she was too far away to get a proper look at him but there was something so familiar about him, she just couldn't put her finger on why.

Honestly, the file Fury had showed her just confused her, she didn't get any of the mumble jumble that Fitzsimmons had written...or was it Fitz and Simmons, that wasn't too clear. From the file she had read it almost seemed like they were the same person. It was extremely confusing. She may be smart but even that sent her mind spinning.

Watching 'Mike' for another moment the blonde sighs before turning back to Fury "Well?"  
Fury sighs "They will see if he is stable, if he is...then we will train him. He could use your help you know."  
"We'll see." She mumbles before watching as the med bay doors slam shut cutting off her view, sighing the blonde moves around her desk to watch as Fury picks up the 084 file and moves it in front of her.

Groaning the blonde sighs as she stares at the file, she couldn't believe he wanted her to do this, yes she wanted to see Coulson, or more accurately slap Coulson but she wasn't sure if she was ready.

"His team is a bit rough around the edges." Fury admits to the blonde before sighing "Look I get your pissed, damn I would be too but he needs help on this."  
The blonde looks up at him before finally nodding, she might as well get this over with "When do I leave?"

Fury grins "Tomorrow.


	32. Winter Soldier - Sneak Peek 2

**Another sneak peek to what I'm working on at the moment. xoxo**

* * *

"I think this is the worse song you've made me listen to." Steve tells Buffy as they spar at the SHIELD training facility, they had learnt very quickly that two super-powered individuals sparing in their own apartment just caused a lot of damage. And while cost wasn't an issue, re-fixing the apartment all the time was a pain in ass.

Buffy chuckles in amusement before staring at him in shock "This is Trish Walker!" When he merely stares at her she rolls her eyes "You know _it's Patsy!"_ Again he just stared at her making her laugh "Hey hey, I want your cray cray."

"Buffy, just stop please." He practically begs making her chuckle.

Buffy shakes her head in amusement, just annoying him was so much fun to her, however her habit of teasing him was a constant reminder to him of exactly whose daughter she was. He could always see the Stark in her the most when she was teasing him.

Cutting him off from his thoughts she tosses a pair of gloves at him causing him to jump in shock slightly.

As she begins stretching he arches a brow at the gloves "Since when do we use gloves."

Buffy who was stretching her arms behind her head gives him a pointed look "Look I get your old fashioned and all, but you can't hold back all the time. Thought the gloves would convince you to actually fight me."

Steve sighs wanting to argue against this but when she gives him her famous glare he shakes his head in amusement before slowly pulling on the gloves "This have anything to do with your mission with Romanoff next week?"

Buffy glares at him before stepping forward and jabbing him in the face causing him to stumble slightly making her laugh "Yeah, I love Nat, but 12 hours on a plane with her, on a mission where all she's gonna do is question me about my love life...not a great idea."

"What so I'm being used as a frustration bag?" He asks as they begin to circle around each other.

When he steps in and throws a punch her way she side steps out of the way, swinging her elbow to the side she aims for his face but he blocks the blow before quickly ducking as she swings her other fist at his head.

Spinning away from him Buffy smiles and shakes her head in amusement as she bounces on the balls of her feet "Did you just use sarcasm? Finally getting through the Stark dictionary I gave you?"

Steve shakes his head in amusement only to spot her leap up swinging her leg towards him grabbing her ankle he swings her leg back down before swinging his fist out.

Buffy grabs his arm putting it in a lock before she brings her knee to his chest making him grunt at her strength, before he could do anything Buffy quickly takes advantage of his weakness.  
Wrapping her arms around his neck she spins them both around only for him to grab her legs and flip her over his shoulder, Buffy easily rolls over his back landing perfectly behind him before smiling.

"Looks like the steroids did more than just give you strength."

Steve shakes his head in amusement before moving towards her again, tricking her as she throws a punch at him, he dives past her arm coming up behind her pinning her against his back.

She struggles and swings her elbow up towards his face, but he catches her elbow in his palm, the two struggle against each other's extreme strength.

Buffy looks up at him now noticing how close their faces were "You gotta admit, this is so much more fun when you actually try."

Steve opens his mouth to comment but Buffy smirks and wraps her ankle around his throwing them both to the ground with her landing on top of him.

As she pins him down he couldn't help but laugh up at her, she was better than him, he would admit that, honestly she was best fighter he had ever seen in his life.

"I win." She chuckles before grinning brightly "What's my prize? Chinese? Pizza? Both?"

Steve smiles up at the woman currently lying on top of him and smiles, he loved seeing her like this, so carefree and just happy, it was a rare sight.

As he gazes at her he doesn't notice the fact that he hadn't spoken in a few moments, that is until Buffy adjusts slightly on top of him making him clear his throat nervously and quickly stand placing her next to him.

As he begins moving away from her Buffy frowns in confusion, she wasn't sure what the hell had just happened there but it was probably nothing.

Leaning against one of the punching bags she watches him cautiously "You okay?"  
Steve clears his throat as he begins unwrapping his hands "Fine."

Buffy arches a unbelieving brow "And you know I really doubt it."

Steve sighs and smiles brightly at her before re-wrapping his hands "I'm fine...so again?"


End file.
